The Rosaries (Crossroads Series) (22 page)

“I understand. I will be in the waiting room.”

When the nurse left to find the doctor, Natalie walked into the waiting area and picked up a magazine. In the light of day, things didn’t seem quite so ominous; the police believed that whoever attacked
Lakeisha
was probably a simple burglar who knew the house was empty after hearing of Aunt Catherine’s death. Ryan arrived within minutes, kissed her forehead and sat down beside her. “Hi Sweetie, are you okay?”

“Yes; a little shaken, maybe, but I’m okay.”

“Do the police have any leads?”

“None they are sharing, if they do. Someone is supposed to call me today, but I haven’t heard anything yet.”

“Most likely she happened to walk in on the burglar and he panicked.
Wilmington
is not what it used to be. I’ve heard that the same thing happened to Mrs. Allen, the owner of the antique shop.”

Natalie arched her eyebrow. “What happened to Mrs. Allen?”

Ryan took in the surprised look on her face and proceeded to deliver the news of Belinda Allen’s death as gently as he could. Unfortunately, there just wasn’t a way to soften the blow. “You haven’t heard? Her husband found her strangled in their bed when he got home from lunch, a couple of weeks ago. The whole house was ransacked. The police are pretty sure the person who broke in thought Mrs. Allen was gone when in fact she was in bed sick.”

“Oh dear God…” Natalie was at a loss for words.

“I know – that’s pretty bad, huh? I remember when we still lived in a quaint small town. We have lots of strangers around at all times now, and a really bad economy. Things have changed from what they used to be, and not for better.”

“I didn’t even know, Ryan. I’ve known the
Allens
since I was a little girl…Mr. Allen was my teacher, for crying out loud!”

A young doctor walked in and interrupted the conversation. “Are you Ms. Sanders?”

“Yes. Any improvements?”

“Surprisingly yes.” The young doctor replied with a smile, “Ms. Jackson’s condition is still listed as critical, but the swelling has begun to recede. If all proceeds well, she might be able to awaken within the next day or two and her condition will be upgraded to serious.”

Natalie smiled in relief. “That’s wonderful news, doctor. Thank you. Would it be possible to see her for just a moment?”

The young doctor ran a hand through his extremely short blond hair, and nodded. He had gentle eyes – eyes of a healer, Natalie thought. She liked him immediately.

“Just for a moment, though. She won’t be able to hear you, you know.”

“I know. I will only stay for a few seconds.”

The doctor was ready to leave the room, when Natalie called him back.

“Will I get notified if anything changes? Ms. Jackson has no family, to my knowledge. I’m her only family.”

The doctor – Dr. Barnes, as his name tag indicated – pulled out a pen from his coat pocket. “What is your number? We probably already have it on the chart, but I want to make sure we have a way of getting in touch with you.”

Natalie took the pen and wrote her number on the back of a business card the doctor handed to her. “Here you go. Thanks for bending the rules a little.” She gave him the card and sat back down while the doctor left the room.

“Well, I’d better go in and see
Lakeisha
for a moment. Will you be here when I get back?”

“Actually” Ryan said, looking at his watch, “I’m supposed to meet my father in a short while, so I’d better be going.” He stood up and kissed her gently, before both of them walked out in opposite directions.

When she stepped into
Lakeisha’s
room, and saw her lying there, with an oxygen mask and her forehead bandaged, she hardly recognized the vibrant woman she knew
Lakeisha
to be. She was covered by a light white sheet, and her eyes were swollen shut. The most reassuring sight of all was to see her chest rising up and down. Natalie got closer to be bed and gently touched
Lakeisha’s
hand.

“You will be okay,
Lakeisha
. My guest room is waiting for you, and we will go to
London
together. You’ve got to pull through this.”

Lakeisha
remained motionless; the only sound in the room that of the monitor which recorded her vital signs. Natalie blew her a light kiss, and then gently left the room.

After leaving the hospital she went by Aunt Catherine’s house, and saw that it had been cordoned off by the police. She saw an officer standing by the door, and her mother talking heatedly with an older man in civilian clothes. After seeing her mother there she changed her mind about stopping by, and hoped that her mother didn’t see her driving by.

She went home instead, and walked straight to the fireproof safe in the closet to fetch the pouch with the rosary. When she undid the tie, and reached inside the pouch, she felt that under the rosary was a small piece of paper, so she pulled it out. It was a receipt of purchase. When she saw where Aunt Catherine bought the piece, her heart stopped…the rosary was bought the previous year from Hidden Treasures, Mrs. Allen’s antique shop.

She sat down on the floor for a moment, hoping that her head would stop spinning. Mrs. Allen was dead, murdered senselessly by a burglar, and
Lakeisha
was unconscious in a hospital bed, after being attacked by a burglar at Aunt Catherine’s house. Both women handled the rosary, or were tied to it somehow. Natalie put her head between her knees, and silently prayed for the nightmare to end.

He was mad, utterly mad. Actually no, he was furious. It was indeed a better way to describe how he felt. When he got back from Catherine
Bouvier’s
house, last night, he felt as if he had won a lottery. All the way home he touched the pouch in his pocket, savoring the precious and endless minutes that separated him from claiming the rosary’s power as his own.

When he arrived home, he could barely contain his excitement; he had a hard on, for Christ’s sake! He sat at the table and touched the velvet pouch; his fingers ran over the soft
material, and he fantasized about the moment he would pull the rosary out; each knot he untied was a step stone to glory. And then, the knots were untied, the mouth of the bag came open, and he felt faint. He gently tipped the bag over his hand, eager to see the rosary’s beady magnificence. A rosary fell out, and its crowning was welcome by a litany of curse words. It couldn’t be…

Although it was of exquisite craftsmanship, what lay on the table in front of his eyes was not
the
rosary. It was a rosary, but not the right one. This one was bluish in color, with a Christian crucifix at the end – the real rosary was allegedly crafted out of different gemstones, mostly garnet and onyx, and had an equally-armed cross at the end to represent the meeting point of all energy.

According to what he learned from Celeste -- as she related what her dying aunt told her -- red and black gemstones were presented to the
Ibeji
twins, who wanted to craft a necklace to give to their mother. They couldn’t decide which color the necklace should be, and since they weren’t able to find a compromise,
Olodumare
sent
Elegba
, the patron of children, crossroads and doors, to settle the dispute.
Elegba
decided that in order to be fair, the necklace would be crafted using a special pattern – black and red stones would be alternated equally three times, and would be separated from the next set by a white diamond, symbol of purity and eternal light. The seventh stone represented the seventh plane of God that one could only reach through acceptance of the other lower planes. In order to remind them that true power can only come to those who take time to understand the importance of all directions leading into one, He instructed them to craft an equal-armed cross to represent the meeting point at the center of all. With the combined power of all energies connected, the keeper of the rosary would be able to see beyond the barriers of time.

He felt a damnable urge to hurl the rosary against the wall, but his strong religious views prevented him from doing so. Instead, he stood up, and slammed the chair back, leaving the unwanted string of beads on the table. He needed some fresh air. Two people were dead already, and the rosary was still at large. Acting on impulse hadn’t served him well, so far. From now on he would need to seriously think things through before taking another step. For now, a mind clearing drive was just what the doctor ordered.

Natalie wasn’t going to take any more chances. The circle was closing in, and she felt quite sure that the person who was after the rosary would come for her next.

She drove into
Wilmington
, keeping an eye on her rearview mirror for anyone following her. She thought she spotted her father’s car, a few vehicles behind, but when she looked again he wasn’t there. Her parents were the last people she was hoping to meet, so she drew a sigh of relief.

She went to the bank where she held an account and asked the teller for a safe deposit box. After carefully laying the velvet pouch into it, she quickly closed it and handed it back to the woman who was patiently waiting by the steel cage. As she walked out of the bank, she felt liberated. The intruder may still try to break into her place, but at least the rosary was safe.

Her cell phone rang. “Hello, Natalie, this is Dr. Barnes.”

Natalie wasn’t sure whether this was going to be a welcome call or one she should dread. “Yes, Dr. Barnes; are there any changes?”

“Yes, Natalie. We just ran some tests, and the swelling has subsided. To tell you the truth, we consider Ms. Jackson’s fast improvement quite remarkable and surprising. Last night’s tests showed swelling of the brain, and there was evidence of light intracranial bleeding. Of course, that fact alone caused a lot of concern, because if the blood does not drain, it can put pressure on the already swollen cerebral tissue and cause considerable damage. Well…I just ran those tests again, and the amount of blood has also decreased. If she continues to improve at this rate, we might be able to terminate the chemically induced coma as early as this evening.”

“ That’s wonderful news, Doctor!”

“I’m as stunned as anyone else, Natalie. It really looks like
Lakeisha
has someone watching over her from above.”

Cute and spiritual…WOW!

“Anyway, I just wanted to give you the update. I figured you’d be thrilled.”

“I am, Doctor; I’m speechless, in fact.”

“I’ll be here until eleven tonight, Natalie. If I witness another miracle I will let you know right away.”

“Thank you, Dr. Barnes. Your kindness is appreciated more than you might think.” She wrapped up the call and smiled happily –
Lakeisha
was going to be okay. Maybe Aunt Catherine was watching over her; after all, it was her home that was broken into, and according to all
manuals of southern etiquette, entering one’s property without being invited is definitely a no-no. Thinking about Aunt Catherine being mad at the intruder because he broke rules of basic respect tickled Natalie’s funny bone.

Oh, Aunt Catherine…I would give a leg to hear some of those etiquette rules from you, right now…

She thought of going home, but the prospect of going back to her empty house filled her with a sense of loneliness. She wanted to be around other people, even the busybodies of Wilmington. Connection and familiarity were very strong concepts with Natalie at this juncture, and she suddenly felt very alone.

She drove to a packing supply store on Market St. to get some supplies to start packing the paintings. It was nice to be surrounded by other humans on a day like this. Although she normally craved solitude, right now she needed companionship. She picked up new brushes and some fresh oils, determined to jump in and finish the last couple of paintings tonight. Little did she know that painting would soon be the last thing on her mind.

Robert Allen called his father multiple times, and when he didn’t answer, he assumed that the old man was taking a late afternoon nap. He left several messages on the answering machine, but didn’t get a return call. He almost cursed himself for flying back to
Indiana
today; if he were in
Wilmington
, he could go and check on him personally. Not knowing where his father was unnerved him to no end.

Jim Allen sat in his recliner, eyes staring into a void only he could see. His arms had come to rest on his lap, after he stopped breathing. His level of discomfort had not been too bad, and his transition was greatly facilitated by his will to move on. No more medicines for Jim Allen; no longer a life without his beloved Belinda; no more days spent lying like a vegetable on a chair waiting to rot. Jim Allen was free, and Belinda was waiting for him, right around the bend.

Chapter Fourteen

With the trip to London quickly approaching, Natalie had much to do before leaving town. The paintings were finally sent yesterday through a courier service, which cost an arm and a leg but offered a speedier delivery and higher security.