Against The Odds (21 page)

Next time I will pay more attention to people who
go up there in the
afternoon
. But
then, what would he have done? He hated the road up to that
mountain. It was long and windy and sometimes if you were not
careful, your car slipped off the path.
No, there is nothing to be done. Let
the tourists suffer for their foolishness.

*****

It
was two weeks before the welts started fading from Clayton’s back.
He was starting to feel normal again and the memory of the pain was
easing. He
had also
stopped waking up in the night, waiting to hear The Darkness. He
had refused to let Rebecca sleep alone in her house, for fear it
might come back with a vengeance. They spent some nights at his
apartment and others at Rebecca’s house. He loved having her curl
up in his arms at night, purring quietly.
She sounds more like a content
Cheshire cat than a dragon to me.
He also liked the way she had changed towards him.
She was less tense and seemed happier to allow him into her head.
She had hated that, but now, she seemed to accept it. She made him
laugh when she was angry at him, sprouting rude words in her mind,
trying to hide them from him and realising that he knew that she
was thinking he was an arrogant swine, or something, she would
change her mind, and try to think of something else. Her eyes would
flash, and he loved her for it. But he knew that she was saddened
by something. He felt it in her heart, but she had been careful to
exclude him from those thoughts. He knew she did not fully trust
him and it angered him a little. Her father had told him not to
push her, but to charm her and that is what he would
do.

Rebecca
felt very happy. She loved him, in a dreamy kind of way, the way he
paced when he was agitated and laughed at her. She loved him, in
his arrogant, self-assured way. He was so busy thinking he had
tapped into her mind, he never considered the fact that she had
long tapped into his mind. It was her secret, for now. She smiled
as she watched her favorite patient, Carl, patting the horse. She
could not believe what a breakthrough she had made with him,
dealing with his feelings of guilt. He was all right now and she
felt saddened by the fact that he would not be seeing her again.
She felt the pain, the longing for a child of her own, but knew
that is was not to be. Clayton did not want to have children, so
she shut the thought from her mind. She had to learn not to think
about this when they were together, because he would surely know.
She cleared her head and got up to leave, as she was meeting
Clayton for lunch.

~ ~ ~
~

It was a
pleasant day and Clayton wanted one of his picnics on the lawn. She
was glad she had agreed, because they sat there, laughing and
joking, the warm sun caressing their skins.

“
What is it, Rebecca?”

“My
mother phoned. It seems like she has found a way to unbind the
spell. I don’t know, I just don’t know. What do you
think?”

He
was staring at her, thinking,
oh God, not again, not the pain
again
. But he said,
“Let’s hear what they have to say. At least let’s hear them
out.”

“
Okay, but I don’t think there is any pain. They want us to go
down there this weekend, to discuss it. I think it is just an
excuse for my father to spent time with you. He really likes having
another Protector around. It’s clearly a man thing. Also, he said
he promised to share some secret with you. He refused to tell me,
saying there are some things a man must do alone. Now, what is that
secret?”

Clayton smiled, thinking,
I quite miss all that shocking, actually,
maybe the old man is right, get back the power
, but he said, “oh Rebecca, it is just
something men talk about. Nothing to worry
about.”

Zane was driving along the road in the park when he saw
them, talking so intently on the grass.
How loving, how normal. If only
people knew about them and their perversion.
He had tried to tell John about it, but
John had told him that he had a wild imagination. He remembered how
they had fought when he had insisted. John had accused him of
projecting his own desire for a foursome with Blake and Chad, as an
older couple, to substitute for his longing for a father figure. It
had been a bitter fight, because he had accused John of wanting to
be with Chad and they had forgotten the real reason they had
fought. Anyway, he knew what he knew.

He
stopped his car and went over to them. At least he can entertain
himself a little more with them. They saw him approaching and
changed the subject.

“Zane,
hello. We haven’t seen you since The Sanctuary. How have you
been?”

Clayton
was charming and kind.

“
You two lovebirds. Whatever happened to you? I heard you
stayed up a little longer?”

“Yes, it
was so wonderful that the four of us thought an extra night would
be great.”

Zane thought,
so four of them stayed. I bet it was great.
He was definitely right about
these people, no matter what John said.

Clayton thought,
well it is sort of true, despite all the pain,
that night with Rebecca had been wonderful.

Rebecca looked away from them,
thinking,
is that all this man thinks
about?

Zane
chatted a bit, but got back to his favorite topic.

“
So, Double J stayed behind as well?”

“
Yes”, Clayton said. “I don’t think they trust me too much, so
they stayed to take care of us. Wasn’t that sweet of
them?”

Sweet indeed!
Zane was thinking. He left soon afterwards, wondering what
other evidence John would need to be convinced.
He is so stubborn
sometimes.

“
Princess, do you get the impression that Zane is a little too
interested in our movements?”

“Yes, I
think they all have naughty thoughts for you. They call you azurite
eyes and stud-muffin.”

He
laughed at the description, as he imagined the context in which
that would have come up.

“
Rebecca, I would like to go to your parents this weekend. It
would be good to see them. I feel a bit strange thinking about the
things that have happened, because I believe it is just my
imagination. Your father makes me feel normal, you know. That all
this is not strange. So, we go?”

“
Yes, I would love to see them. But, Clayton, if there is any
pain, or creatures, I am out. I will not take that risk again,
okay?”

“
Well, let’s hear what they have to say. Anyway, we will talk
later. I have to meet Jono later for a drink. He still worries
about us.”

~ ~ ~
~

But Jonathan was also worried about himself. He remembered
how strange Jackie had been, since the weekend in the mountain. She
kept asking him
‘Jono,
what does it mean that I knew when I had to phone Clayton? How are
we connected to this?’

He
had considered this question, but had come to no logical answer. He
did not know what it meant and did not really want to think about
the fact that they might be linked. He explained it to himself that
it was because she had always had a deep, protective affection over
Clayton. He had been happy with this explanation, until last night,
when she woke him and told him that she had been talking to the
butterfly. He had been completely horrified.
Dear God, was there no end to
this?
Now
his wife
was talking to the
butterfly?
Why? Look what happened to Clayton.
He had started out by talking to the
butterfly. Was it their turn? Has that bloody creature simply moved
to them? No, there would be no talking to butterflies. No way. He
was not having his back torn to pieces by some bat. Worse still,
what if he was not Jackie’s Protector? Would she fall in love with
some tiger man? Not a chance. He was not losing his wife to some
man who growled and changed the
color
of his eyes.

He could
never compete with that. No way. So, he shouted at her, refusing
for her to explain what the butterfly had said.

“No, No, No, Jackie. There are
no
talking butterflies in this house. Do you hear me?
We are not insane. No talking butterflies, no tigers, not
creatures,
never
. Is that
clear? Is that clear? Next time it comes, you tell it to bugger
off, is that clear?”

“
But Jono, darling, it told me that...”

“
No. What is the matter with you? No. I said no. I don’t care
what it said because, my dear, there are no talking butterflies in
this house. Not today, not ever!”

She had
been so angry that she had stormed out of the bedroom and slept in
the spare room.

In the
morning, she had screamed at him, telling him that he was a
closed-minded old fool who did not know what was good for him. She
had left him there, knowing he did not have a car that day. He had
to take a taxi to work and he was seriously pissed off and
worried.

“
Can you believe it Clayton, that she thinks I don’t know what
is good for me?”

Clayton
threw back his head and laughed. He was laughing so hard, he almost
spilled his beer.

“Oh Jono, you
are
a
closed-minded fool who does not know what is good for you. There
are no tigers or creatures for you. She wanted to tell you that she
was pregnant.
The butterfly
told her last night and she went to the doctor this
morning. She phoned Rebecca this afternoon to tell
her.”

“
What, Clayton. What did you say?”

“
Your wife is pregnant.”

“But that is not possible. We have tried
forever
and no doctor has been able to
help us.”

“I
can’t explain it, but she is pregnant. Rebecca says it is a gift
from Nana, the
dead woman
,
Jono, who wanted to thank you for all your help.”

Clayton
was smiling now, the way he always did when he was teasing
Jonathan.

“
No, it is not possible. Clayton, don’t tease me. Please, not
now. Telling me that a dead woman made my wife pregnant is not
helping. Stop it, tell me properly.”

“Okay, your wife is pregnant, by some miracle, it is true.
She is seriously pissed off with you right now. I don’t think you
should be sitting in a pub drinking with me. I think you need to go
home, with some flowers, and
beg
for
her forgiveness.”

“
Okay, you are right. I don’t know what to think. I feel like
a big oaf. God, she is going to make me pay for this for a long
time. I went crazy and shouted at her. She is going to make me pay
for the rest of my life. Yes, I had better go and get those flowers
and that fancy chocolate she loves so much. Boy, have I got trouble
on my hands.”

He
dashed off home, feeling a bit apprehensive. Was it possible that
she was pregnant? Could it finally be true? It was too good to be
true. She had wanted a baby so long and it had pained him so long,
he could not bear the possibility that it could be true. But when
he got home, she was lying on their bed, crying and he knew. He
held her and they cried. Jonathan was a very happy man. Later, when
they talked, he asked her what she thought about the coincidence of
this pregnancy at the time of all the ‘activities’ in Clayton’s
life.

“Darling, it has nothing to do with him. I think it
happened because I stopped wanting it so badly. When I saw what
Clayton and Rebecca were going through all those weeks, I realized
that we were lucky to have each other and needed nothing else. I
stopped craving the baby and then it happened.”

Jonathan agreed with her, but, an analytical man by nature,
he was not entirely convinced.
God help us if there are creatures and
tigers to come,
he
thought as he fell asleep.

*****

Rebecca
was fast asleep when they got to her parents’ home. Clayton kissed
her cheek to wake her up and she protested. “No, Clayton it is too
early. Let me sleep.”

She tried to turn over and then
realized she was not in bed.
She opened her eyes and was surprised how dark it
was.

“Princess, we are at your parents’ house. Come
sleep
y-head.”

“Oh, oops, sorry.
I must be really tired.”

“
Yes, you have been working too hard this week. Come, let’s
go. You need some fresh air.”

He
jumped out of the car and opened the door for her and she stumbled
out, clutching her handbag.