Authors: Max China
"The only thing that matters is that your sister is back to where she was before she was taken. She has the memories you shared with your mum and dad, inside her now. She understands they've gone, and she understands she was away, but she has no concept of time. In her head, she missed nothing at all. Kathy's time starts now. Can you understand that? You must help her. After all, she is your sister."
Stella gazed at the autumnal pattern in the carpet.
Rosetta burst through the door. "They're coming!"
The Sister smiled. "I know."
Chapter 155
Reacting to the gravity in Rosetta's voice, Stella got to her feet, frowning apprehension. "Who's coming?" she said. "Will someone tell me what's going on?"
Sister remained calm, seated. "Miller, go. Take the sisters with you."
Worried lines appeared on Stella's face. "What's happening?" she asked nervously, looking at each of the others in the room, she waited for an answer.
"The Church, not the Catholic Church - another one - they're coming for her," Miller said, taking her arm and steering her out of the door. "Go and get Kathy. She's upstairs, right?" He looked at Rosetta. She nodded.
Stella lingered, uncertain. "What do you mean they're coming for her?"
"I'll explain later. You need to get Kathy," he repeated and then turning, he said, "Come on, Sister, let's get you out of here."
She smiled serenely. "Miller, Rosetta will drop you all to
Waverley, you can get the train back to London. Rosetta, is your emergency bag packed?"
"It's been packed for days—"
"Good, now get these people out of here."
Miller squatted in front of her by the table. "Are you not coming?"
"If I do and they catch up with us, there will be blood. Just go. You don't owe me anything."
Without taking his eyes from her, he said to Rosetta over his shoulder, "Bring the car round."
She looked to her mother for confirmation. "Do it, Rosetta," she said.
"What are you doing, Miller?" Rosetta said.
"If she's not going, I'm staying with her."
"Miller, you cannot. I have to do this on my own. It's one of the things fate has always had in store for me. Get your bag, Rosetta."
"You can't make me leave, besides I have a plan," he said.
She raised an eyebrow. A light shone in her emerald eyes and the hint of a smile graced her lips. "I guessed you might."
Rosetta left the room for a few moments and reappeared carrying a small suitcase. Kathy stood behind her, bleary-eyed, next to Stella.
"I hope you know what you're doing, Miller," Stella said.
He stepped forward and embracing her, whispered in her ear, "I'll see you soon."
She squeezed him hard before they parted, and he hesitated, then awkwardly shifted direction, leaning back in to kiss her cheek, she turned her face at the same time. Her lips brushed against his. "Soon," she murmured.
Kathy looked embarrassed as he took her hand and kissed the back of it lightly. Winking, he said, "Take care of each other. I'll see you both soon."
Sister hugged her daughter in a lingering, warm embrace, and whispered in her ear. They held onto each other's hands, reluctant to let go. Unseen, she palmed something into Rosetta's hand before finally parting with her.
"Where is the tall man?" Carlos said, as he slid into the passenger seat.
Hasan took the notepad from the dashboard, scribbled on it, and pushed it toward his companion.
He is already in Scotland.
"Always, he is one step ahead of us. He wants the stone for himself. Drive, Hasan. I will speak, and you will listen…"
The Sister had known for years that the cult's popularity would grow. Always moving behind the scenes, she'd severed many reptiles from the head of the new Medusa, but no matter how many she removed, others sprang up to take their place. The leader remained elusive, hidden behind many facades, his identity unknown to but a handful of trusted allies, and her. In a world where people were leaving the traditional church in droves, he'd built a new congregation founded on blind faith and mind control. With the power and wealth he'd accumulated, almost beyond compare, it seemed that nothing could stand in his way.
Miller knew the key to stopping them was Carlos, but Kale had warned him off. With the Resurrectionists less than a few hours away, he telephoned Kale.
"Donovan, it's Miller. I need your help with something. Remember I told you about that business I had in Scotland? Well…"
When he'd finished explaining everything, Kale was silent for only a moment.
"This is what I suggest: The Vatican," he said, "it's the only place she'll truly be safe, and from what I can gather, they'll welcome her back with open arms, the Resurrectionists wouldn't dare to follow her there."
"That's great, Donovan, but we need to move quickly."
"Scotland, you say? Whereabouts?"
"Not far from
Edinburgh." Miller replied.
"I can have my plane there within two hours. There's a private airfield about twenty miles out. Can you get her there?"
Miller covered the receiver. "Is there another car here?"
She nodded.
"I don't know how this is going to work, Donovan, but yes, give me the postcode, and we'll get there."
"I'll have it sent to you by text. Two hours. See you there." Kale hung up.
"Come on, Sister; let's get you packed and ready." He followed her along the passageway to the lobby, where a suitcase sat waiting for her.
"You weren't ever planning to wait for them, were you?" he said, studying her face. Tiny creases at the corners of her eyes gave her away.
I should have known!
"How did they find you?"
"Oh, I knew they would, eventually. My ability to resist those who pry was somehow doubled by the stone, but the closer someone gets, the harder it is to stay concealed." Her fingers sought from habit to roll a missing object. "And he is close."
"Who?"
"The tall man. The seer. I feel him." She donned her cape and gloves, pulling the hood up and lowering the veil over her face. "Miller, we must go now. He'll kill you if he finds you here. He wants only me and the stone."
"Now where's this car?" he said.
The tall man stopped the elderly red Citroen, opened the driver's door and then half getting out, stood holding it ajar. With one foot on the road and the other still in the vehicle, he turned and looked south.
The stone. It's no longer here.
He'd gone ahead to try to obtain it for himself. With it, his would be the ultimate power. There would be no need for The Sister. With it, he would be able to read the future in addition to reading the past.
Miller is with her.
He got back into the car, considering his next move.
Bumping up the lane in an old, battleship-grey army jeep, they rounded the first bend. The sun cast a red glow across the lane onto the wild flowers.
A car is coming!
No, it isn't moving.
It was stationary and empty.
"I don't think I can get round it," Miller said. "I'll see if I can move it."
"Be careful," she said, laying a gloved hand on his forearm. "He is near."
With no one else in sight, Miller got out and looked into the abandoned vehicle. The door was unlocked.
No keys.
He remembered a gap they'd passed in the bushes further up, on their way in earlier, a passing point.
"Sister, you're going to have to drive the jeep, push this French banger backwards. I'll steer it."
The hedgerow quivered and then suddenly parted as a man clambered through the foliage. "Move away from the car, Miller." He held a pistol.
"You!" Miller exclaimed, recognising him as one of the men who'd tried to kill him a year ago.
The tall man.
He brushed along between the vegetation and the side of the car, keeping the gun levelled on him.
"Move away down the passenger side and get in," he commanded.
The gap between them was six feet.
You'll never do it.
"Don't even think about it," the other man sneered. "You, Sister, out! I know you no longer have the stone. Where is it? Tell me!" he said, aiming the pistol. "Or I'll kill him."
He knows where it is.
Her thoughts came from Miller's head.
The seer looked from one to the other.
What sort of trick is this?
Her eyes flickered behind her veil. Miller saw himself through her eyes.
The gun swept round to aim at her. "Last warning. Where is the stone?"
A shadow formed.
Taekkyon!
His mind emptied in the blink of an eye. He took two steps, ducking under the pistol arm as it swung to follow him. His hand coming around from below, he gripped the seer's wrist, knee against calf, folding the leg backwards, at the same time forcing the gun hand away from him. Miller stepped up onto the lowered thigh using it as a springboard and drove his knee straight up into his adversary's face. The gun went off. Birds scattered from nearby trees. The Sister fell to the ground.
Oh, no – she's been shot!
Fearful, he rushed to her stricken form. Dropping to his knees beside her, he cried her name. She didn't move. One leg was folded half beneath the upper calf of the other; he unfastened the silken cape looking for a wound, and finding none, pressed his ear against her chest, listening for a heartbeat.
"What are you doing, man?" She pushed his head away. "I fainted, that's all! I can't bear violence."
With no time for ceremony, he yanked her to her feet and then crouched by the unconscious man, searching his pockets for the car keys. Finding them, he threw the gun over the hedge. "Quick, get in the car."
The car screamed in reverse gear as he swung it into the passing point. Backwards, forwards, back again, turning enough to face forwards, he then drove as quickly as the car's suspension would allow them to go. Shadows gathered about him.
"I thought you'd laid them to rest," he said, grinning.
"So did I," she said, a hint of a smile on her lips.
Miller dropped her off an hour later, at the airfield. One of Kale's bodyguards met them in the car park, and they followed him to where a private jet awaited her. After helping her aboard with her luggage, Miller embraced her.
"Will I ever see you again, Sister?" he asked.
She rested her forefinger on his chest, right above his tattoo. "Si Dios quiere," she said, and even though her hand was gloved, and he was wearing a jumper and shirt, her touch burned into him.
"I'll see you again, Sister," he whispered and walked back down the steps onto the concrete taxiway.
She watched his back as he descended, smiled enigmatically and turning, entered the plane.
A female flight attendant introduced herself and showed her inside.
Kale emerged from the cockpit and took over, asking, "Isn't your daughter coming with you?"
"Rosetta is making her own way."
Sister smiled as Kale's face darkened. "But they're after her too!"
"I know," she sighed. "But you know how it is with the young . . ."
"When did she leave?"
She knew there was a time for truth and a time for lies; there was only one option. "An hour ago."
"Excuse me," Kale turned on his heel. "I'll be back in a moment."
Taking a seat, she looked out of the aircraft's window. Head down, Miller crossed the strip, on his way back to the car park. She blew a kiss after him.
The distant figure of Miller stopped abruptly and turned. The jet shone in the late evening sunshine, its whole length illuminated, radiating a beam, so bright everything else paled against it.
It looks like Ryan's pencil!
Shielding his eyes, he squinted, looking for her at the window. Something in his perception changed, and he saw his tiny figure standing out alone, by the runway. The link forged all those years ago, no longer denied, still in existence.
He googled the telephone number of the nearest taxi firms while he waited. Only when the plane was airborne did he call a cab. His finger poised above the keypad to make his next call, he hesitated.
If she'd wanted the police involved, she would have told you.
Selecting Tanner from his contacts menu, he telephoned him.
"John, it's Miller . . . Look I'm sorry about the last few days…" He held his mobile away from his ear, while Tanner turned the air blue with a tirade.
"Stella's on the train with Kathy, heading for King's Cross, I don't know which train they caught, but they should be back in two or three hours, I would have thought. Any luck with finding Boyle, by the way?"