Underbelly (8 page)

Looking back she did not regret her actions on that night; rather she regretted her inaction. Human sacrifices were considered the norm in witchcraft in those unenlightened times and she had been indifferent and callous regarding Darlynn’s baby – it was worse than that, she had been eager for the sacrifice to go ahead, to reap the power from that heinous act. For a long time she had rationalised such deeds by thinking solely of what she had to gain and by not considering herself culpable for the actions of her friends, which she knew was a crock of shit. If anything she had more blood on her hands than the deranged Darlynn. At the time she had barely given the poor little mite a thought and it had taken many years for her to reassess her behaviour and to view this as her worst deed – the night when she stood back as a madwoman slaughtered her own baby. From a legal standpoint she’d done far worse things (she had no physical involvement in the sacrifice whatsoever and was adamant on this before they began), yet this was the one thing she shared with no one, especially not her husband. It took a cold person to allow such a deed, let alone be completely unmoved and self-absorbed as it happened and she had not been that person for a long time and did not want to become her again. That night was one of the reasons why the church would be interested in eliminating her, one of many reasons. They suspected but if they knew her full catalogue of misdeeds they would hound her until death, if that were not what they were currently doing.

Laura disembarked from the ship in New York where a small crowd had gathered to welcome the soldiers back. She waited until they had left the boat and most of the people had cleared away before she set foot on American soil – what she had feared all along was true, her powers did seem somewhat diminished being so far from the country of her birth. Wonderful. She saw a large group of nuns, bringing back the memory of the Beguine massacre that followed the desecration of the church, and she felt she needed all of their prayers at the moment. As she walked away from them she heard one of them, possibly the Mother Superior as the voice sounded like it came from a desiccated old fossil, say flatly, “Welcome to America, Miss Spencer.”

Laura stood still for a second before she resumed walking without a backward glance.

Chapter 2 – Welcome to America

Ollie Seddon cursed himself – he was already at rock bottom and he’d messed up yet again. He could have committed suicide privately, without an audience pressuring him. He hadn’t expected it to be like this – he thought he’d climb over the bridge wall and jump and it would all be over in a matter of seconds. He hadn’t foreseen the hesitation, the police arriving and trying to talk him down, the disruption to traffic as police only allowed the lane furthest away from him to be open. The bad weather didn’t help either, making his footing unstable as he shuffled on the ledge. He couldn’t even die right.

“
Come on, Ollie, you don’t want to do this,” Sergeant Walker said as he stood several meters from him, to no response. Sergeant Walker was in his late 50s and he had known Ollie since he was a boy yet he had been unable to coax any words from him and his failure to open up a dialogue concerned him and he mouthed to the other officers ‘jumper’, preparing them for the worst. The sight of two civilians leaving their coach and approaching the scene annoyed Sergeant Walker and he sent his youngest policeman, a returning soldier called Briggs, to shoo them away. Briggs went to talk to them and ordered them to stay where they were as he relayed the message to Sergeant Walker.

“
He says he knows Ollie and he reckons he can talk him down. That’s his wife – she’s just going to stay there to watch him.”

Sergeant Walker gestured for Grey to come closer; Germaine hugged him tightly before he left her some distance from the scene. Sergeant Walker said to him, “I know him too, son, and he won’t even acknowledge me. If you want to give it a try, go right ahead, only keep your distance from him and come back to us if I tell you to.”

“
I’ll stay out of arms reach,” Grey lied as he walked over to Ollie. Ollie turned and stared at him as he approached and warned him not to come closer.

“
You won’t hear me from here and I need to talk to you. I swear I’m not going to make a move to grab you – I haven’t the strength to pull you back over and I don’t fancy falling in those waters.”

“
I don’t know you. Leave me to it.”

“
I know more about you than you think. You’re Ollie,” Grey said, speaking softly so that only Ollie could hear him, slowly inching closer towards him.

He shook his head and said, “Just leave me in peace.”

“
This won’t grant you peace, Ollie. Death doesn’t always mean peace.”

“
If you lived my life you’d take hell over living. You’re going to make me jump before I’m ready.”

“
I can’t stop you jumping. I pray that you don’t, but it’s your choice. All I’m asking is that you hear me out before you decide. Aren’t you a little curious about why the police let me through to talk to you and why I’m standing here getting wet?”

“
Are you a doctor, a psychiatrist?”

“
Nope, I’m a high school dropout, Ollie, last in line when brains were handed out. When I tell you what I am you’ll think I’m in need of medical help. I’m a medium. If you’re not familiar with that term you might have heard of clairvoyant or spiritualist, even the word psychic might fit.”

“
They’ve sent a crank to save a crank!”

“
There’s logic in that,” Grey said, trying to joke with him, “but I don’t think either of us are cranks. I know of your mother. Doreen hasn’t been gone long, and while she will find peace, she hasn’t yet because she’s worried about you.” Grey was close to him now and was pleased that he was, as he didn’t want to shout out such sensitive information.

“
The police briefed you well. Look, don’t waste your time with me. If I was worth saving I wouldn’t be standing here.”

“
Your mother thinks you’re worth saving and I agree with her. She is so proud of you – she couldn’t have run the store without you, you were practically the proprietor at 12.”

Ollie looked strangely at Grey, analysing him, deciding whether there was any truth in his strange story. Grey decided to give him more proof and said, “After your father died in the Great War you were everything to her, and she thinks that she always discouraged you from having girlfriends because she couldn’t bear to lose you. She wants you to find someone now, she doesn’t want you to be lonely.”

“
Is…is she talking to you now?”

“
Yes. Please feel free to communicate with her through me. That’s why I’m here.”

“
The store’s gone,” he said, beginning to cry. “I couldn’t hold it together without her.”

Grey relayed this and told Ollie her response. “She’s upset but for you – she’s not bothered about the store, other than that its closure upsets you. She thinks that it could be worth trying to move into the vacant old post office, that the rent might be cheaper.”

“
I can’t even afford that. All the money’s gone.”

“
And how much do you need to start again?”

“
I haven’t the strength to start again,” he said wearily.

“
This is your mother speaking now, I’m just the vessel. You made it through the depression, Ollie, you’re stronger than any other man, your father included. We’ve weathered hard times together and you can get through hard days on your own grit. They’ll take you on at the mill and you can save up and in less than two years you’ll be able to get the money for the post office – maybe a year, you’ve no vices. You can turn this around.”

“
No, I can’t. Not without you. Can she hear me?” he said, feeling ridiculous as he talked to this man as though he were his mother.

“
Through me, yeah. Her words again. You’re only 41. I don’t want to see you yet. You were my life; I should not be yours. We’ll be together, just not yet. Promise me or I won’t find peace knowing that my dear son died in such a manner.”

“
I’ve already shamed her too much by doing this.”

“
No, she’s proud of you, not ashamed. I wish my mother was as proud of me as Doreen is of you. Loss is always difficult, Ollie, but it doesn’t have to be the end of us. Why not consider her advice? Perhaps you could name a new store as a tribute to her?”

Ollie considered Grey’s words and while he remained standing on the edge, Grey felt that his mother’s words were getting through to him. It took another twenty minutes before he was able to consider it, asking Grey what they’d do to him. Grey promised him that it wouldn’t be too bad and that they’d let him go back home after a day or two, providing he didn’t mention about him being a medium else they might keep them both locked up indefinitely. When he did finally climb back over the barrier the police grabbed him quickly, escorting him away as he profusely apologised. Grey talked to the police quickly, promising them that Ollie wouldn’t try and take his own life again and he gave them a contact address if they wanted to talk to him further.

Germaine had been waiting patiently with the police and Grey tried to sprint back across to her and discovered that running was a mistake on his third step as he felt discomfort in his lower back. A full recovery was still a few months away, though he was pleased that he had recovered enough for a normal life, his time in the wheelchair unbelievably frustrating. He masked the pain from his wife and embraced her and kissed her wet hair. Grey spotted their suitcase by her feet and realised that their coach had not waited for them. The driver had been reluctant to leave them behind but he had a schedule to keep and after waiting for 15 minutes he had unloaded their case and given Germaine the choice of whether she wanted to stay or go. She had left her homeland for her husband (hardly a wrench) and she dismissed the question as ridiculous. Grey was aggrieved that Germaine had been left outside in the rain and grumbled about this even when he discovered that the police had offered to take them home.

“
So what made you think you could talk him out of it?” the officer asked him as he drove the short distance to Keokuk.

“
I’m good at getting into people’s heads,” he said. The truth, that the open door policy in his own head was useful for many things, was going to come out, but that didn’t mean he had to admit what he was in every conversation. Germaine whispered in his ear for the rest of the ride home, praising him for his heroics, while asking him to be more careful in future. She was pleased that her husband was the kind of man who tried to prevent suicides although she wished he had done so from a distance instead of putting her through the wringer as she imagined the man jumping and dragging James with him, or James making a grab for him and plummeting with him. She’d already experienced enough loss without losing her husband too, their marriage providing the foundation of her new life.

The end of the line. As soon as the road became familiar Grey began to feel trepidation which increased as the police car pulled up into Keokuk, and Grey directed them to the centre of town, to his childhood home. Grey asked the driver to drop them off round the corner so that his parents wouldn’t see his method of transport and get the wrong idea. He thanked the driver and his partner and as they walked the final few steps home Germaine said, “That’s another reason for your parents to be proud of you.”

“
I’m not going to tell them about that. Are you ready?” Grey asked her, having warned her about his parents.

She nodded, believing the best of them and determined to befriend them and teach him their value – she had no kin to speak of and she wanted to repair the fractured Grey family.

Grey knocked loudly and the door was quickly answered by his father, Abner, a slightly robust, greying figure. His initial expression was one of displeasure, his reading glasses that plummeted to the tip of his nose revealing that he had been disturbed, before he saw that his son was home, which flummoxed him.