Then I felt something strange in my shoulder like
a bee sting. The water was still too dark to see even my own arm so I felt the
sore spot with my fingers. There were three slashes along the length of my arm
and something sharp was lodged in one of them. Panic flooded my belly as I
remembered Eudora lunging toward me. My injured arm began to tingle. I could
still feel the pressure of Ren’s fingers twined with mine but no longer felt
the heat of his touch.
“Ren, something’s wrong.”
The tingling dulled and numbness began to spread
down my arm. My heart pounded with alarm as the deadened sensation crept over
my shoulder. There was a dim light in the distance that brightened the water
from bluish black to dark green. Through the murk, I watched Ren’s hand
frantically scrabble at my limp fingers.
“Eliza, the current is getting stronger please,
PLEASE try to hold on to me!” His thoughts pressed into my mind, the tone of
panic coming through as if he was shouting.
But the paralyzing numbness crawled up my neck and
made me feel very cold and drowsy. I gazed at Ren through the silty haze. The
current was pulling us toward a light in the distance but he seemed to be
moving faster than me. I watched him drift further and further ahead of me, as
he struggled to hold on to my hand with both of his.
“I’m can’t hold on.” I thought listlessly.
“You’re slipping away from me!” He thought with
panic.
If I could have cried, hot tears would have seeped
from my eyes sending swirling salty droplets into the foggy fresh water around
my face. Ren’s Shadow was strong, and mine was damaged by Eudora’s poison. He
was going home but I was not.
“Ren, you have to go. You don’t have a choice.
It’s going to happen. Let me go.” I sent the message out across the watery
distance between us as I watched Ren’s fingertips slip away into the abyss.
“NO, NO, NO!!!” He thought as his Shadow was
sucked into the vortex to join his body. And then he was gone.
As soon as Ren disappeared, the current slowed and
finally dissipated. I floated alone, not up or down, just around in the
stagnant murky depths, the purgatory between the realm of the nereids and the
place where my inert body would wait until it realized my Shadow would never
return. The deadened sensation continued to creep across my body.
So this is how it ends, I thought. And I’ve
accomplished nothing. The stark truth of my situation was crushing and I
envisioned my heart shattering in a million pieces, the shards dispersing in
the water like flotsam floating away from my rapidly disintegrating Shadow. The
grief that pounded in my head ebbed as the deadened feeling crawled from my
neck to the top of my skull. The ache in my heart faded as numbness encased the
place where my heart should reside. I felt sleepy and weak and stopped putting
effort into focusing my gaze because there was nothing to look at or look for.
The light far in the distance grew dim.
Thump. Whoosh!
Suddenly my Shadow was shaking and vibrating. A
torrent of bubbles whirled around me. I couldn’t identify an exact touch but
realized that something was propelling me rapidly through the water. The weight
of the water rushed around my frame pressing harder and harder against the
surface of my Shadow.
I spun and tumbled in the water until I felt something
wrap tightly around my arm. It was pulling me. At first, I panicked thinking
the scylla must have found me but then I realized that it was certainly not a
slippery tentacle that held me. It was a human hand. Could it be?
The light of the vortex in the distance grew
stronger and the tint of the water around me changed from a dark, murky green
to light jade. I searched the gloom for the figure that held me in the distance
but all I could see was a blur of brown and black surrounded by a torrent of bubbles.
The current around us picked up pulling us toward the light. We were going
home.
26
A bird chirped softly in
the distance and was answered by another followed by the soft flutter of wings as
they flew away together. I rolled to my side and sank into a downy pillow. My
eyes slid halfway open. A pale blue, predawn light seeped through an open
window and a cool morning breezed toyed with a pair of heavy white curtains. I
pulled the blanket bunched around my hips up toward my shoulders and stared
drowsily at the ceiling. I was back in Cora’s house.
My heavy eyelids fell again as surreal images from
the night before scrolled through my mind. Had I really gone to Merepen Hallow
or was it all a dream? With the sun rising behind the oak trees and the sweet
morning song of birds streaming through the window it was hard to believe the
nightmare I’d escaped. That is, until I felt something hard pressing into my
palm. I loosened my fingers and felt the object roll in my hand. My fingertips
kneaded it rapidly until there was no mistaking its identity.
A winsome pang of defeat pressed against my heart…
Mother… I’d failed her. I rolled again to my side and squeezed my arms around
my chest pressing against the pain in my heart. I thought of my mother’s face
and her touch as she pushed me into the water, sealing her own fate and
safeguarding mine. The tears I couldn’t cry the night before filled my eyes and
spilled onto the pillow beneath my cheek. I let out a soft sob.
I was interrupted by the sound of someone sighing
followed by a series of rustling noises. My ears pricked with surprise. I
wasn’t alone. I quietly rolled to my back and sat up to inspect the dim
interior of the room. It was only then that I realized I was not in the same
room I’d slept in before. This room had two twin beds. I was sleeping in the
one closest to the window and someone rested in the other.
A strong breeze blew the curtains apart,
permitting the first rays of morning sun to fall across the face resting on the
pillow of the other bed. A hot ball rose from my chest to my throat. I blinked
against the new crop of tears brewing in the corners of my eyes unable to
believe the sight before me.
My mother’s dark eyelashes fanned across her olive
cheeks. Her hair, a smooth river of black spread over the pillow and draped off
the edge of the bed. She mumbled incoherently and sighed, tossing restlessly
from side to side then fell silent, sleeping once again in peace.
How did she escape? Could Eudora have let her go?
I shook my head, doubting that was the case. But if Eudora hadn’t seen her
home, how did she make it to the vortex? I inspected mother’s resting face and
wondered.
The door cracked and my eyes darted toward the
disturbance. Cora’s dark frame showed through the sliver between the door and
the jam. I quietly slipped out of bed and tiptoed to the door grabbing a plush
white robe that hung from a hook on the back of it on my way out. We crept down
the hallway making our way to the kitchen. The warm sticky scent of pecan rolls
wafted toward us growing stronger with every step. By the time we reached the
kitchen, my mouth was watering.
“Coffee?” Cora asked softly.
I nodded slowly still in shock by my discovery.
One of Cora’s brows shot up and a knowing smile
spread across her lips.
“You eat yourself a good breakfast. Then we’ll
talk.” She ordered moving purposefully around the kitchen as she poured a cup
of coffee and readied the skillet for eggs.
I sipped my coffee and unraveled a pecan roll as
Cora fried eggs and sausages in the skillet. By the time she set the hot plate
before me, I’d found my tongue.
“I couldn’t help her. She… she pushed me into the
water and I left her behind. How’d she get here?” I asked incredulous.
Cora lowered her heavy frame into the chair
opposite me and smiled broadly.
“S’what I heard from Ren but as it turns out,
Nia’s not so far gone after all.” She said, followed by a relieved chuckle.
My eyes widened. “So, it was her? My mother pushed
me through the vortex? How in the world did she escape?” I asked in amazement.
Cora shook her head in equal disbelief.
“Child, don’t know if we’ll ever find out. What I
know is that somewhere deep down, Nia knew she had to help you. Not sure if she
realized that saving you meant saving herself too.”
I was suddenly reminded of the message Benjamin
had given me at the end of my primer lesson.
One may follow through the gate but one’s
own will must be strong to escape.
My mother and I may have had to find the
will within ourselves to escape but it was together that we found the strength.
Cora appraised my shocked expression and laid a
warm hand over one of mine.
“Sometimes you just got to be grateful for what is
and not worry about how it came to pass.” She said gently.
I leaned back in my chair as a wave of tension
flowed out of me. I closed my eyes letting relief sink into my bones. My mother
was home and she was safe.
A few moments later Ren stumbled into the kitchen,
likely drawn out of slumber by the irresistible aromas wafting from it. He
rubbed a hand over his unruly bed head and smiled when he saw me.
“Surprised to see you up so early.” He said.
“I should say the same about you.” I joked back,
eyeing his mused hair and rumpled clothing.
“Sit yourself down, now, and I’ll get you some
breakfast.” Cora ordered.
Ren plunked into the seat next to me. His
expression turned serious. “Not mad at me are you?” He asked softly.
I heard the strain in his tone and remembered that
he thought he lost me… maybe forever.
I shot him a lopsided grin.
“Of course not. It wasn’t your fault that you came
back without me, you know that right?” I asked, absently rubbing the arm where
Eudora’s talons had scratched my Shadow.
He furrowed his brow and nodded slowly,
unconvinced.
I reached out and laid a hand on his forearm.
“What I meant to say is, thank you. We wouldn’t be
here if you hadn’t come after us.” I said my gaze fastened steadily on his.
My hand slid over the top of his and I pressed my
fingertips into his palm.
Ren flushed dropping his gaze to our joined hands.
A thump from the hall drew all of our attention
toward the doorway of the kitchen. I stared anxiously, waiting to catch my
first glimpse of my mother awake. With my attention trained on the door, I
barely noticed Ren’s hand slide from my grip, followed by a nervous cough.
My mother approached the kitchen tentatively, like
a rabbit venturing into an open meadow.
“Good mornin’ Nia. Why don’t you join us for
breakfast?” Cora coaxed sweetly.
I startled at Cora’s tone, so gentle and simple,
as if she was talking to a child.
My mother’s wide eyes drifted across each of our
faces, her own face showing no outward sign of recognition. My heart fell like
a stone into the pit of my stomach. It wasn’t just in Merepen Hallow my mother
didn’t remember me! Panic vibrated in my chest. What were we going to do? My
mother didn’t remember us. I hadn’t bargained for her condition to carry over
to our world.
As if she anticipated my reaction, Cora calmly
stepped in to soothe the situation. She crossed the room to where mother stood
looking frightened and lost and tenderly linked hands with her.
“Come on now, Nia. It’s breakfast time. Made you
your favorite pecan rolls. Don’t they smell good?” She asked brightly and smiled
cheerfully at my mother despite the lack of response mother gave her.
I glanced toward Ren to find him nervously
watching my face. His lips drew together in a grim line as he shifted his gaze
toward my mother. It occurred to me that while my mother’s condition came as a
shock to me, it didn’t seem to be one for Cora and Ren.
We finished our breakfast in relative silence only
exchanging a few pleasantries about the weather, with Cora remarking how
unseasonably warm it was. My mother furtively ate her meal and after she’d
cleaned her plate twice, Cora gently wound her hand around mother’s arm urging
her to stand.
“You had a long night Nia, why don’t you go lay
down for a bit and rest? I’ll walk you back to your room and tuck you in.” She
said softly ushering her out of the room.
As soon as they were out of earshot I turned on
Ren in a panic.
“What happened last night?!” I asked. “All I
remember is moving toward the light. The next thing I knew I was waking up in
bed and then I saw my mother and I thought she must be ok but obviously she’s
not!” I babbled alarmed.
Ren shifted in his chair to face me and held his
hands up.
“Calm down, it’s going to be alright... at least,
I think it will.” He answered his forehead wrinkling.
I gave him an exasperated look.
“Look, all I remember is that I was in the circle
of candles, lying next to you when I woke up but you were still there… looking
dead.” He said, taking a deep breath before continuing. “I was upset but Cora
told me that I shouldn’t worry because you were on your way home. A few minutes
later you woke up but you were disoriented. Then Cora ran off the porch into
the backyard. She was gone awhile and when she came back, she had your mum. I
don’t know how your mum crossed over, she was terribly confused.” He explained.
My face fell into my hands as I tried to hold back
tears.
“Eliza, don’t cry. Your mum’s alright, she’s safe
now.” Ren stammered.
I shook my head, raking my fingertips across my
face.
“Ren, she is so
not
alright and you know it.” I said
bitterly.
His face fell. “Well, that is, I’m sure Cora can
help her. She’ll recover soon.” He said encouragingly.
Cora’s heavy footsteps plodded down the hall. She
burst back into the kitchen cheerfully but her smile wilted when she saw my
doleful expression.