The Legend of the Light Keeper (The Light Keeper Series Book 1) (10 page)

I DON’T
REMEMBER FALLING ASLEEP
, but waking up was something I would never forget. Hunter’s voice blared out, singing
Old McDonald
. I turned off the radio and tossed it onto the carpet in the center of Talon’s room. I buried under the covers and tried to go back to sleep, but it was no use, my head was pounding. I got up and took some medicine and hoped it would pass. I even tried going back to sleep, counting the ways to get back at Hunter for waking me up, but that didn’t help either. I decided to get up and go back to my own bed and read Alyssa’s diary. That way I could at least relax for another hour.

I flipped through and found where I’d left off. Several more pages had been torn out and it made me wonder if Alyssa regretted the things she’d shared in those pages and ripped them out of her memories for good. What was so bad? Especially with all the strange things she’d shared so far.

April 30, 1912

Rex Mitchell came by this morning. I didn’t know what to say to him. It didn’t really matter since my mother didn’t let me get a word in anyway. She rambled on about a simple wedding and has even insisted that she stand up with me. When I told her that I’d always wished for my little sister, Josie, to have that honor, she insisted that she was much too young and should be the flower girl instead. I don’t really see what it matters to argue. There will never be a wedding. I miss my Michael. I only hope that he’ll come to see me soon, and explain why he went back home so suddenly that he didn’t even say goodbye to me or Birdie.

May 11, 1912

Today I went to gather linens at the hotel with mother, and while we’d stopped for tea with Mrs. Collins, I overheard a few men talking about Rex. They all agreed that he was no good and one man even called him a “murderous swindler.” I could have heard more if mother hadn’t started talking loudly to deliberately keep their opinions from Mrs. Collin’s ears. Surely she didn’t care if I’d heard. She’d warned me before that many men envied Mr. Mitchell’s wealth and that I was not to trust idle gossip. But I am not so sure I trust Rex. He seems awful anxious to be with a poor girl such as myself, without really knowing anything about me. I wonder if he and Mother have struck up some sort of deal for my hand. But what would Mother have to offer Mr. Mitchell? Something is not right. I feel it deep down in my soul all the more every day. I miss Michael so much that it pains me to write more of him. I hope that wherever he is at this moment, that he misses me too.

May 20, 1912

I’ve got to end this as soon as possible! Today I saw Rex while I was on my way to Birdie’s. He was standing at the edge of the woods, just off the tracks, and he was digging. He got the most furious look on his face when he saw me, as if I had done something horribly wrong. I stopped to say hello, out of politeness, but he came running up to me and grabbed my arm, accusing me of following him there. When I explained that I was on my way to check on Mrs. Chandler, he calmed down, but still told me to be on my way, that he was working. It was frightening. He had to be up to something. Why would a man who works for the railroad, with such a high position, be out on the edge of the tracks digging holes? And then there is the sound of his thoughts. I heard them again today. While the rage poured from him, I heard him think something that has me scared to my core, so much so that I can’t even stand to see them in ink. His vile and threatening thoughts with a different, familiar voice, and the fear of what he might do to me, if what he was thinking is true, scare me to death. I know with my gifts that anything is possible; but this, I don’t know how to explain it. It just can’t be. I don’t know how to tell Birdie without her thinking I have gone completely out of my mind. If what I think is true, I fear for my Michael. Where has he gone? What was Rex digging up or burying?

“Wow,” I said. Whatever she’d heard that guy say, it had to be pretty bad. She was terrified. It had to be scary hearing other people’s thoughts, especially hearing someone’s voice inside another’s head. It would be a hard gift to have, especially if she couldn’t control it. I felt for her. I’d developed a kinship with a girl from a book, from nothing more than her faded words on yellowed paper, words that would be unbelievable to most, but meant so much to me. Maybe I wasn’t normal and never would be, but Alyssa gave me hope that I wasn’t alone. I had to read more. I needed to know what happened next.

May 22, 1912

Tonight one prayer was answered as Michael showed up at my window, but now all my worst fears have been revealed. Michael couldn’t explain everything, but he said I was to trust him. I told him that I do trust him and I understand why he had to go. All that matters now is that he’s back. I also told him that I heard Rex’s thoughts threatening me. Michael said he’d left town after hearing about the engagement, but Birdie sent word to return and explained everything— even about the sessions and my abilities. She told him of my suspicions and how they were true, and that he should come back for me and that we are going to a place she’s sure that no one will ever find us. We will be together forever. I can’t believe that this is happening so fast. I will miss Josie and little William so much, and fear I will not have a proper chance to say goodbye. They would never understand anyway. Part of me wants to scoop them up and take them with me. But if I am in danger, they would be as well. They will be safest with our mother. Michael is to meet me in the early morning at the post in town. I only have hours to be ready. Tomorrow I leave home forever.

I turned the page for the next entry to find that this one was the last. There were more pages that had been left blank. I felt totally ripped off. I needed to know what happened. I needed explanations. How did Gram get this diary anyway? Had Alyssa taken it with her when she’d run away? My mind was still reeling when Owen came in unannounced. “You’re not going to be happy with Hunter,” he said.

“I’m already not happy with him. He woke me up at 6:30 singing ‘Old McDonald.’” I was annoyed just remembering. I sat up and tossed the diary aside.

Owen tried not to laugh. I knew then that he had something to do with the song too. “Well, it was after that when he told me what he did.” He bit his lip and his expression turned grim.

“What did he do?” I shrugged, wishing he’d spill already. There was no telling with Hunter, so no need to try and guess.

“He called Talon last night and told him about the Light and what happened to you,
and
how scared you were. Talon’s worried now and said he might be coming home early.”

I clenched my jaw. We’d talked on the way to the movies about how we wouldn’t tell Talon anything until he returned. I didn’t want anything ruining his trip or causing any more problems between him and his dad. I guess Hunter wasn’t really thinking something so crazy would happen when he’d promised. I should have guessed he’d tell Talon. The two were becoming very chummy.

“Great.” I grabbed my phone to dial Talon. “I better call him and tell him I’m fine and there’s no need to get in trouble with his dad by coming home.”

The phone rang a dozen times before his voice mail answered. “Talon, it’s me, Lily. I’m fine
really,
so there’s no need to come home. It was really nothing.” I hung up. “There.” I turned to Owen. “Hopefully he’ll get that message and call me back.” I stood there angry, tapping my foot, with my arms crossed. Owen took a step back. “Take me to your brother.”

Owen led me to Hunter’s room where we found him on his computer. When he saw me, obviously upset with him, he shot Owen a glare and shook his head in disbelief. “I told you I was gonna tell her,” Owen said. He reached out to punch his brother’s arm. Hunter, never flinching, grabbed Owen in a headlock and the fight was on. The two started scuffling and Owen broke free only to lock arms and force Hunter against the wall by the door.

“Stop it! Now! Stop it!” I screamed. Granny came down the hall. They stopped when they heard her tiny feet thudding the way.

“That’s enough, you two,” she warned. “What’s the problem?” Neither said a word. “You two know better than to fight, especially in front of a young lady.” She glared at Hunter and smacked Owen on the back of the head, because he was closest. Then she left to go back to her TV.

As soon as they heard her footsteps enter the living room, Hunter pointed at his little brother to tease him. Owen gave a final punch in Hunter’s direction, but Hunter ducked out of it. “Guys,” I interrupted. I went to stand between them, hoping it would help them listen. Turning to Hunter, I pointed my finger at his chest. “What were you thinking,” I scolded.

“He called to check in and I just—well, he asked,” Hunter said. “What was I supposed to do, lie? He comes home tomorrow anyway.”

“Exactly, but now he wants to come home early. You ruined his last day with his mom.” Tom would be mad, but I didn’t go into all that.

“I didn’t mean to make him come home, I’m sure he won’t. I told him you were
fine
.”

“Oh sure, Mr. Innocent, tell her what else you did.” Owen wouldn’t even look at Hunter now; something really had upset him. He’d only told on Hunter in the first place for revenge.

“What else, Hunter?” I put my hand on my hip and stared up at him. Hunter glared at his brother; he didn’t like being put on the spot.

“He sold me out,” Owen seethed. He reached over to smack his brother once again, and caught his lip.

“
Ouch.
Hey, I’m sorry. He asked me to tell him everything.” Hunter shrugged, looking genuinely sorry as he held his lip, pulling his hand away to show the tiny split that Owen had caused. “That hurt, man.” He frowned at his brother who seemed sorry he’d drawn blood.

“Well, I hope the two of you are happy.” I pinched the bridge of my nose and tried to shake off the tension. My head was still pounding. I decided to go back home and get some rest. I left them there arguing without even taking time to say goodbye.

* * *

It was nice to lie back down. My head was still nagging, but it had eased up a bit. I saw the key to the trunk and thought about Alyssa. What did she look like? There were pictures in the trunk. Could one of them hold the face of Alyssa Harris or Michael? Was I related to them somehow? Then a scary thought entered my mind. Would I stumble across the face of Rex Mitchell?

I reached into the trunk and found the old fashioned candy tin that held Gram’s old photos. Most of the pictures were of her as a little girl. As I flipped through the stack, I heard a car outside. I peeked out the blinds, expecting to see Hunter leaving for town. Instead, it was a small black sports car pulling into the drive. I figured it was a friend of Tom’s when I saw him walk out to the car. I turned back to my photos and kept searching for Alyssa.

I’d just started a new stack when a familiar voice sounded from the living room. It was Talon, back from his mom’s. I looked outside to see the car pulling away, and then I jumped up and ran for the bathroom.

I feared I must have looked horrible and the mirror didn’t lie. I brushed my hair and swept it up in a ponytail, washed my face, and brushed my teeth.

Talon made his way down the hall and to his room and Tom followed. I listened through the door. Tom’s voice was low, but I could hear him if I pressed my ear to the door, which I did, holding my breath.

“What are you doing home early?” he said.

“What? Not happy to see me, Dad?” Talon’s reply dripped with sarcasm.

“Of course, I just hope you didn’t upset your mother.” Tom sounded irritated.

“Mom’s fine. She had better things to do like always. What do you care anyway? Look on the bright side, at least you didn’t have to come and get me.”

Tom didn’t speak right away. I wondered if he’d realized I was in the bathroom, because when he did speak, his tone had changed. “Well, did you have a good time?”

“Sure, as much as possible. I’m glad to be back though, I missed—everyone,” he said.

Soon after Tom’s footsteps echoed down the hall, I came out of hiding, anxious to see Talon. I had missed him so much. He was unpacking his bag when I walked in, and he turned to me. His face was blank.

“I’m sorry.” It’s all I could say. Surely he was disappointed about his trip being ruined.

“For what exactly?” He scowled.

“I’m sorry Hunter told you about last night and ruined your trip. I’m fine, really, I —”

“He was
supposed
to tell me about last night.
You
should have told me about last night. We talked about that.”

“Yes, I know, but it was really nothing. No one got hurt or anything.”

“No, I heard you were scared out of your mind. Guess that doesn’t count?” He cocked his head in suspicion. “Unless... ”

“Unless what?” I shrugged.

“Unless
you
didn’t
want
me to come back early. I heard you had a great time at the movies.” He glared at me accusingly.

“What’s that supposed to mean? You can‘t possibly be referring to Owen.”

“You tell me? His brother told me that he
kissed
you at the movies, and then you went outside with him and he kissed you again.”

“That’s
not
exactly how it happened,” I assured.

He gritted his teeth, his head shaking. “But it
did
happen? He kissed you?”

“Not the way you think!” I stopped. I couldn’t believe I was defending myself over nothing. Then it hit me. “What do you care anyway?”

“Maybe I did, but not anymore!”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. He
did
care. I was just about to explain before this misunderstanding went any further, but Mom called from the kitchen as he darted into the bathroom and slammed the door. “Lily, could you come here, honey? We have a visitor.”

Everything in me wanted to ignore her and pound on that door and force Talon to talk to me, but instead I gave in and turned to join Mom and our guest.

I FOUND
GRANNY SITTING
at the kitchen table with Mom. “Hi, honey.” She smiled up at me. “I just came to get my carrier and thought it was a good time for a visit.” She couldn’t have had worse timing, but I was polite.

I pulled up a chair next to her as Mom got the carrier out of the cabinet. “The cake was delicious,” she said, joining us at the table. “It was so nice of you to make Lily a cake. I’ve never been much of a baker myself. It tasted so much like the chocolate cake my mother-in-law used to make. She used Mexican vanilla in her chocolate frosting.”

“That’s it, some secret family recipe, huh?” Granny laughed, nudging me. “That recipe has been in my family for generations and it’s one of the only scratch cakes I still make. The boys love it.”

“Well, maybe someone gave it to my mother-in-law.” Mom laughed. “She used to live around here.” That took me by surprise. I never knew that I had any family from the area.

“I thought we all came from Bolivar,” I said. I was surprised that she’d never mentioned that before.

“No, no. Your dad lived in Saratoga as a boy, until he was about five, I think he said. I never knew any of his family except for my in-laws. Maybe you knew them—Robert and Mary Jordan?”

“Mary Jordan was my cousin!” Granny gasped and clutched her chest in delight. “Well, I’ll be.”

I was confused. “Mom, wasn’t Gram’s first name Lily? I thought I was named after her?” I’d been taught this my entire life, even by Gram herself.

“No, her real name was Mary. ‘Lily’ was just a nickname that Gramps gave her. It was for her middle name, Alyssa.”

I was in shock.
Alyssa
?
Was Alyssa my Gram
?
No wait it can’t be! The dates are all wrong
! I tried to sort it out in my head.

“When she was younger we called her Mary.” Granny smiled. Gram was her cousin Mary from the stories she’d told. Gram had seen the Light. It suddenly made sense that Granny’s cousin Mary was especially freaked out by the Light. She had seen the girl too.

“Wait a minute… Alyssa!” I snapped my fingers, thinking out loud. “I’ll be right back!” I ran to my room and grabbed the little trunk, and then I carried it back with me and placed it on the table.

“Well, what’s all this?” Granny smiled curiously as I opened it and pulled out the diary.

“Who is this?” I asked, offering the book to Mom first.

She eyed the diary and then shrugged. “I don’t know, honey, and I didn’t know a whole lot about your father’s family. Gram wasn’t much on genealogy.” She handed the book to Granny who got a strange look on her face.

Before she could speak, I pulled out the Bible and turned to the family tree. That’s when a few loose obituaries spilled out onto the table. Granny noticed something that made her mouth pop open. She reached for the pile of paper clippings. “This is my husband,” she said. She held one of the yellowed squares and stared at it longingly.

“Your husband?” Mom leaned in to see the picture on the obituary. “This is so cool, Lily! You and Mrs. Riley
are
related!” Her eyes widened.

I couldn’t believe it. I studied the family tree to try and prove the obvious. Gram’s name was there, Mary Alyssa Jordan, and just above that, her mother’s name, Josephine, Alyssa’s baby sister that she’d written about. That was as far as my family tree went, which left the one question I was wondering about. Had Alyssa run away with Michael or had she been forced to marry Rex Mitchell? “How are you related to my Gram?” I asked.

“My father was her baby brother, William Owen Harris.” She smiled.

That’s when it hit me; something that hadn’t yet sunk in. If Granny and Gram were cousins, then Owen and Hunter were my cousins! The headache nagged once again at my temples as the adrenaline rushed through me.

“Who was Alyssa?” Mom asked, looking at the diary.

“She was my father’s oldest sister. I never knew her. She was supposed to have run off and gotten married while my father was still very young. My father and his family left Bragg and moved back to Port Bolivar shortly after that.”

“Alyssa lived in Bragg?” I couldn’t believe it, though it explained many of her dull days.

“Yes, they had only moved out here after the 1900 Galveston hurricane. They lost everything they had in Port Bolivar and they came out here to start over.”

Just like me and Mom
, I thought.
How strange
.

“Well, I know what that’s like,” Mom said.

I quickly took out the tin of pictures and handed her a stack. “Do any of these people look familiar to you?”

Granny thumbed through the pictures and came to a sepia-toned print. “Ah, this is the Harris family. That’s my daddy there.” She pointed to a pretty baby boy. “And there’s Aunt Josie. This must be Alyssa, and their parents.” She smiled, pointing to each person.

I took the picture so I could see Alyssa. I felt as if I knew her, yet not nearly enough. I wanted to know more, I needed to, but terror shot through me as I recognized her face immediately. She was much younger in this picture, but it was
her
, the same face I’d seen in the Light!

The green-eyed girl was Alyssa Harris. How was she here? Why was she here? Why had I been the only one to see her? It was even clearer why Gram had given me the diary. I had to tell Talon everything. I also had to tell…my cousins.
Now that’s going to be awkward
.

Owen wasn’t going to take this too well. If he thought my feelings for Talon were unnatural, what would he think of himself after kissing me? If he liked me half as much as he’d said, this was going to break his heart. I’d deal with the cousin issue first, and then when the time was right, I’d let them know all about Alyssa.

I excused myself, brought my trunk to my room, and then went across the hall to Talon’s where he was clearing out emails. “You’ll never guess what I just found out.” I felt uneasy.

“What?” He continued to click his mouse, uninterested.

“It seems we have a few new additions to the family.” I tried to lighten the mood, but by his posture, the way he leaned away from me with stiff shoulders, he was still angry with me.

“What? Is Cate having triplets?” His eyes didn’t leave the monitor.

I leaned down in his face and blocked his view. “Would you stop pouting for five minutes and listen to me?”

He backed away. “I don’t pout. Now get to your point,
Lily
!” He spat out my name like it was a curse word.

“Well, Owen won’t be kissing me anymore, so you should be glad.” I waited for his reaction.

“I’m sure you’re heartbroken. Like I said, get to your point.”

“Owen and Hunter are my cousins.”

“What’s the punch line?” He sighed.

“It’s not a joke! Granny and my Gram were first cousins. That makes us third cousins, blood related.”

Talon eyed me a minute to make sure I was serious. Then he burst out laughing. “You have the worst luck. Is there anyone you’re interested in that isn’t remotely related to you?”

“Yes… you!” I stormed toward the door, but he ran to catch my arm. He was so close to me now that the warmth of his body made me tingle. I avoided his eyes.

“Lily, I’m sorry.” His fingers touched my chin softly to encourage my gaze toward his. “Does he know?”

“I haven’t told him and Granny is still here, so no,”

“Are you disappointed? I mean, since he’s obviously off the market for you.” His hands dropped to his sides and he stepped away from me.

“I was never interested in him,” I snapped.

He crossed his arms. “What about last night? You make a habit of making out with guys you aren’t interested in?”

“Making out? Excuse me? If you had listened to me earlier then you would have known that I turned him down. I didn’t kiss him back because I wasn’t interested in him in that way, not ever. I’m sure he told his brother
his
version of the situation and that’s the same version you heard. Hunter knows nothing happened.”

“Oh. I thought you—”

“You thought what?” I couldn’t believe that he’d think I’d be interested in Owen over him. I figured I was obvious with my affections.

“I thought maybe you had changed your mind about me. I mean, I see the way he is with you. ”

“I didn’t change my mind. Not that it matters, right?”

“When are you going to tell him?”

“Guess there’s no sense putting it off,” I said. His lips pressed into a line as he tried to keep his smile from showing. “You really shouldn’t be so happy. It’s mean.”

“Sorry.” He made one last attempt to be serious, but it was no use, his eyes said it all. I had known there was tension between the two of them because of me. It was the elephant in the room and much too awkward to acknowledge.

“Let’s go.” I pulled his arm to lead the way. Then I went to my room and got the Bible. I’d need some proof if he refused to believe it.

“What’s that?” Talon raised his brow.

“It’s part of my birthday present. It’s how I made the connection. Owen will probably want to see it, too.”

Granny was saying her goodbyes to Mom, so we walked out behind her. “Lily,” she said, “I’m going to let you tell the boys.” I guess she’d thought Owen should hear it from me,however, I thought he’d accept it better from her.

The walk took a little longer so Granny could keep up. We also had to dodge a few freshly dug holes. They were small, but Granny cursed them anyway. She was convinced it was Mr. Hill and said he’d crossed the line by coming into our yards. I was sure Tom and Mom wouldn’t have been too happy about it either.

When we made it to the house, Owen apologized about the way he’d acted earlier. “I’m so sorry, Lily,” he said, taking my hand in his. He smiled down at me with his eyes almost pleading, like all that mattered was my forgiveness and my opinion of him. He was impossibly handsome like this, and I wondered why he would even be interested in me at all, given the way the girls at the movies had carried on about him. He could have anyone he wanted, but here he was, my cousin, and he wanted me. I smiled at him and then turned away. I was about to break his heart.

“Welcome home, man.” Hunter shook Talon’s hand and tapped his fist at his shoulder. “I didn’t want you to cut your trip short, I told you she would be all right.”

“No, it’s okay, really, I wanted to come home early; I missed—Lily.” Then he put his arm around my waist. Owen noticed, his smile faded, and his teeth clenched, the muscles in his jaw giving him away. Inside, my heart was soaring and breaking all at once.

Owen glared at Hunter, still blaming him for making Talon come home early. He didn’t seem to like the way things were going, and it was only going to make things harder when I told him the news.

I took a seat at the kitchen table. “Owen. Hunter. I have something to tell you.” They sat, but Talon stood behind me. Owen narrowed his eyes suspiciously, not knowing what was coming next, but certain he wasn’t going to like it. “Granny, a little help, please.” I swallowed. Granny shook her head and turned to the sink to wash up a few dishes. I was on my own.

Both of my cousins seemed confused, even more so when I placed the Bible on the table and opened it to the family records.

“You want us to go to church with you, Lily?” Hunter joked.

“No. This is my family tree. Granny and I discovered something really—
wonderful
.” My voice fell on the word, knowing Owen wouldn’t think it was wonderful at all. “We’re
cousins
!” I raised my brows and waited for their reactions while trying to make it sound like the best news ever.

Hunter glanced at Granny for a sign of truth. Owen just glared at me, disgusted. “You could have found a better way to let me down, you don’t have to lie.” He threw his chair back and stormed out the back door.

I pushed my chair back into Talon and ran after him. I found him standing near the fire ring. “I’m not lying, Owen. It’s true.”

“Whatever, it wouldn’t matter anyway would it? You’re going to be with your
brother
.”

“He’s not my brother. We’ll never be related like you and me.”

“So it’s blood then? We’re blood-related?” He winced at the words as if they’d cut him.

“Yes. Granny and my grandmother are cousins. We’re third cousins by blood. Family, Owen. We’ll always have each other. We’ll always have our own special relationship.” I took his hand.

“Get the hell away from me, Lily!” He pulled away and plopped down in a chair.

I felt like crying. I wasn’t sure why, but part of my heart felt like I had just told the most colossal of all lies, but nothing could change blood. We were what we were. I should have been happy. It would make things easier with Talon and me, but I felt guilty thinking about it. He turned his back to me again, scraping the chair on the pavers. I watched his back move with his deep breaths and decided to leave him to sort it out.

Hunter and Talon were sitting at the table chatting and thumbing through my Bible when I returned. “How’s he taking it?” Hunter asked. I shook my head in response. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. It’s just— he’s gone on and on about you and—” He stopped, realizing how awkward the conversation was with Talon there. “He just
really
likes you.”

“Don’t worry about him,” Granny assured. “He never stays mad for too long. He’ll come around and see that this is a
good
thing.” She sounded as if she was trying to convince herself.

Minutes later, Owen came back in. The room went quiet as he took a seat across from his brother. He didn’t look at me at all, and I hoped he wouldn’t hate me. “You kids should be happy,” Granny said. “You’ll always have each other. Nothing will ever change that now. Friends for life, that’s what family is.”

Owen was clearly ready for a subject change. Talking about it wasn’t going to help anything, or change it. “So, when are we going to camp out?” he asked the guys. I couldn’t help but notice he had picked a subject that would completely leave me out, but as long as he snapped out of his bad mood, I wouldn’t complain.

They went on for half an hour, planning what they could bring and where they’d go on their night ride. They’d sleep out in the little shack.