Deception (Absent Shadows Trilogy Book 3) (9 page)

~ Chapter Twelve ~

I shivered as we stood at the crowded taxi stand outside Tullamarine’s domestic terminal. It was just after seven in the evening, and the queue was long with what appeared to be business people returning from interstate. The pilot had said it was twelve degrees when we landed, but the wind felt like it was blowing straight from the South Pole. I’d forgotten how bitterly cold Melbourne’s winter could be, and I wasn’t dressed for it.

When we finally made it to the front of the queue, I swore at Sam under my breath, and heard Debs laugh as she said, ‘I agree. Bloody Sam, what could have been so important that he couldn’t pick us up?’

‘I’m sure it was unavoidable,’ I answered, making excuses for him even though I wasn’t entirely sure I believed it.

‘Yes, yes, I’m sure it was. It’s most unlike him to be anything other than chivalrous.’

The taxi pulled up, and the driver jumped out and threw our bags in the back. Debs and I both jumped in and she spoke firmly to the driver saying, ‘Docklands, please.’

As the car drove off, I remembered that I’d switched my phone off when I got on the plane. I pulled it out of my bag and turned it back on, hoping maybe there’d be a message, but there was nothing.

‘Now, Lili, you know it’s absolutely no problem for you to stay with me, for as long as you like. So don’t feel you have to take the first house you look at. You kids should take your time; look for something that you really like … something that feels like a home. It’s a shame Sam felt he had to give up that house of his. It was very comfortable, not to mention convenient. But I dare say something will come up. And I’ve told you, Sam can stay as often as he likes too. Just make yourself at home. With Ian back in Paris, the apartment will feel very empty, so I’m actually looking forward to you staying.’

‘Ian’s gone back to Paris?’

‘Yes. Oh, hadn’t I mentioned that? He was offered another research position, at the same hospital he went to a few years back. He was so flattered that he couldn’t refuse. But frankly, I’d seen everything there was to see in Paris the last time. I told him to go without me, and I’d stay and continue with my bridge groups and volunteer work. He left a few days before I came over to Perth. I thought I’d told you, but perhaps not.’

‘No, well, I don’t think you mentioned it. So, it really isn’t a problem then, me staying?’

‘Please, Lili. It is absolutely not a problem. Like I said, I’m looking forward to having you. Now, first thing tomorrow, I’m taking you shopping. You need a winter coat and some jumpers. You look like you’re half frozen. Driver, can you please turn the heater up a bit?’

The traffic heading into the city was light, so it didn’t take long for us to get into town. As I walked through the front door of the apartment, memories came rushing back. Like the night I’d waited alone in the apartment, desperate to hear from Sam that all had gone well with the encounter with Zunios. And like the first time he’d come up to meet Debs, and forced himself to eat some cheese and crackers to be polite.

I suddenly felt so exhausted. I was missing Ceylona terribly, and Sam wasn’t here to lift my spirits. My arms and legs felt heavy, and at the same time my head felt muddled and the room seemed to swirl.

‘Lili, are you alright? You look exhausted.’

‘Yeah, maybe I should try to sleep for a bit?’

‘Of course. It’s been a big day for you. But you’re probably starving too, so let me make you an egg on toast and a cup of tea, and then you should have an early night.’

‘No, really, thanks … I’m not hungry. I just want to sleep. I’ll see you in the morning, okay?’

‘Of course. Sleep well.’

I had a quick shower that helped warm me through, then slipped into my pyjamas and sat on the edge of the big queen-sized bed. I looked at my phone, wondering if Sam might have called while I was in the shower, but there were no missed calls—no messages. I considered ringing him, but I was too tired to think straight, so instead I set the phone to mute and placed it on the bedside table, and crawled into bed. The sheets were freezing at first, but the weight of the heavy doona was comforting, and it wasn’t long after my head hit the pillow that I felt myself drift off to sleep.

~~***~~

When I woke, the room was still dark so I thought it must be early, but I rolled over to find the alarm clock showing seven fifteen. I’d slept over ten hours. I quickly checked my phone, but there’d been no calls. I jumped out of bed, threw on a pair of track pants, a sweatshirt and my runners and tiptoed into the kitchen.

‘Well, good morning,’ said Debs, looking up from the morning paper. ‘How did you sleep?’

‘Like a rock. I guess I needed it.’

‘Of course you did, dear. That was a big day yesterday … emotionally. So, what do you feel like doing today? My diary is clear for a few days, so I was hoping we could go shopping and get you some proper winter clothes.’

‘Sure, that sounds good. Oh, and you know those cameras … the ones where you take the photo and it pops straight out of the camera? Well, I want to get one of those for Ceylona. Mladen won’t let her have a computer so a digital is no good, but I’d like her to be able to send me photos.’

‘Ah, yes, I know the sort you mean. I haven’t seen anyone use one in years, but I think they still make them. That’s a great idea.’

She just looked at me for a moment, and I knew what she was thinking. She would be wondering if Sam had phoned. But I didn’t mention that he hadn’t. I didn’t see any point in talking about something that would just make me more depressed.

‘Would you like a top up?’ I asked, as I pulled a cup out of the cupboard and poured myself a coffee.

‘No, I think I’ll float away if I have any more. There are some nice pastries over by the fridge, or if you’d prefer toast, there’s bread in the freezer.’

‘Yeah, okay, I’ll have toast,’ I said, opening the freezer to grab the solid loaf of bread. Toast with peanut butter; it was comfort food, and just what I needed.

Debs finished her coffee and chatted to me while I ate my toast. The sound of her voice was helping me feel at home here in her kitchen.

‘You should probably ring your mother, or at least send her an email—to let her know that everything went well. She’ll be concerned about you.’

‘Oh, yeah—I suppose I should. I’ll send an email today.’

‘You look like you’re ready to go for a run. Is that what you had in mind?’

‘Yeah, maybe. I mean I wouldn’t mind if it’s okay with you.’

‘Of course, you do that. I’ve got some mail to sort through … bills to pay etcetera. You go have your run and we can go shopping after that.’

‘That’d be great; if you’re sure you don’t mind? A quick run is probably just what I need. You know, after sitting on the plane so long yesterday.’

‘Yes it is a long flight—but nothing like the one from America.’ She stood up and headed for the study, then turned and smiled, ‘Oh, and your key is there on the hook by the door. Don’t forget it when you go out.’

~~***~~

A half-hour later I walked briskly up to the gardens, and by the time I arrived at Sam’s tree, my breath was making clouds of steam in the cold still air. I stood there for a few moments, hoping I might spot him somewhere. Feeling foolish when he didn’t appear, I took off the jacket I was wearing, and tied the sleeves around my waist. With my back to Sam’s tree, I headed down to my right, past the bench I fondly referred to as Elizabeth’s bench. She, too, failed to make an appearance.

I walked the first lap, then jogged one as a warm up, then did two more slightly faster laps. I slowed back to a jog for one more, then walked a final lap as a cool down. But there was still no sign of either of them. When I got back to Sam’s tree, I untied the jacket and put it back on, then started walking back. For some reason I decided to go past Elizabeth’s bench one last time, rather than take the shorter path down to La Trobe Street. As I walked by the bench I scanned the area, but there was still no sign of her.

But then I heard the melody—that sweet little tune she often hummed. It came drifting toward me, and I wondered if I actually heard it or if it was just my memory playing tricks on me. I stopped, and it seemed to get louder.

‘Elizabeth, is that you?’ I thought, without actually speaking out loud.

‘Hi, Lili, yes it’s me. I see you’re back … are you staying this time?’ she asked, her voice sounding so wonderfully familiar.

‘Yes I’m back. Didn’t Sam tell you I was coming?’

‘No. But he did say you were in Australia. He said you’d taken Ceylona to Mladen. I wasn’t sure if I’d see you though.’

I clenched my teeth and fought back tears of frustration and hurt. He hadn’t even mentioned to Elizabeth that I was coming home. Had he thought I might not come back?

‘Lili, don’t take it so personally. Sam and I don’t talk … not like we used to. He’s been … different, lately.’

I’d forgotten she could read my thoughts, even when I hadn’t formulated speech in my mind.

‘Different? How? What do you mean?’

‘Well, since he and Tom moved, he doesn’t walk through here every day like he used to. We used to talk about everything; things that mattered, things that didn’t matter. He would spend time with me every day, sometimes lots of time. But now, well, he comes here from time to time, or I see him at the market, but it’s not the same. It’s usually more, I don’t know, rushed I suppose you could say.’

‘Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. I wouldn’t have thought anything could keep him from spending time with you.’

‘Me neither, but ... well, all I can say is that he’s changed. At first, when you left, he got sad. I expected that. He was sad for a very long time. But we still talked. Or at least I talked, and he listened. But since they moved, he’s become very distant.’

A movement to Elizabeth’s right caught my eye, and I turned to see a teenaged girl materialise right before my eyes. She looked to be maybe seventeen or eighteen, dressed in jeans, a tee-shirt and canvas shoes.

‘Hello,’ I said to the girl, then looked back to Elizabeth for an explanation.

‘Oh, how rude of me—Lili, this is Cassandra, or Cassie. Cassie, this is my sister-in-law, Lili. I almost forgot you were back there Cassie, you were so quiet.’

The girl smiled at me. ‘Well, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be seen … at first.’

‘Oh, Lili’s fine. She’s one of “us”. Or at least, as close as a human can be,’ Elizabeth said, winking at me.

‘Well, it certainly is a pleasure to meet you, Cassie,’ I said, ‘and it’s nice to see you have a friend, Elizabeth. I don’t suppose Henry is still here?’

‘No, he left quite some time ago. He started getting fainter and fainter, then one day he was gone. No big parting speech or anything, just gone.’

‘I’m sorry, Elizabeth,’ I replied feeling sad for not only her but also for myself—I’d miss Henry too. Then I turned to the other ghost, ‘So, Cassie, your accent … I mean, you sound like me. Are you from California, by any chance?’

‘Sure am. San Diego.’

‘Oh … I’ve never been there but I’ve heard it’s nice. So, if it isn’t too rude, may I ask how you came to be here?’

‘I ran away from home. Well, sort of. My Dad had moved here a few years ago—he lives here in Melbourne, in Jeffcott Street. Or at least, that was the last address I had for him. I told Mom I was sick of her new boyfriend telling me what to do all the time, so I packed my bags to come here to live with my Dad. But I never thought to tell Dad that I was coming, and so when I got here, he wasn’t. I figured I’d just hang out in one of these backpacker places until he got back. Then what happens? I wake up dead. Seriously.’

‘Oh, I’m so sorry … that sounds … awful,’ I said, wishing I hadn’t made her talk about it.

‘Oh, it wasn’t that bad, really. I mean, I was walking along the street heading back to the hotel, and I remember seeing a man coming toward me. But the next thing I remember was wandering through this park—alone. I tried talking to people, but no one could see me I guess, and they certainly didn’t hear me. I don’t know how long this went on for but eventually I just sat down on this bench here and cried. And then this one appeared,’ she said, pointing to Elizabeth, ‘and asked me if I was okay.’

‘And so you’ve stayed.’

‘Yeah, it seems so. I’ve got nowhere else to be anyway, and Elizabeth here is the best friend I’ve ever had.’

Elizabeth seemed to blush at this, or at least she looked down at the ground shyly.

‘And your father? Have you seen him yet?’

‘No, I’ve gone to his place a few times … it isn’t far … but he hasn’t returned. And no-one there sees or hears me so I can’t even ask if they know anything about him.’

‘Well, maybe that’s something I can do then. I can ask around, see if anyone there knows of him. Would that help?’

‘Would you? That would be awesome. You’d do that, for me?’

‘Of course, it’s no problem at all. But I won’t have time today. I’ve gotta get back … in fact, I’m sort of late already. But I certainly will go to his building tomorrow to see if I can find out anything. Will we meet here tomorrow morning?’

‘Sure thing. And if you don’t mind, I’ll come with you to his building. That way I can listen in if you find anyone that knows him.’

‘Well, it’s a date then. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.’

‘Tomorrow it is,’ said Elizabeth, her smile so contagious that I felt my mood lifting, and I couldn’t help smiling back.

‘Oh, and if you see Sam, mention that we spoke, and that I’m out with Debs. Tell him that I hope to see him tonight.’

‘Sure thing, Lili, but I wouldn’t count on us seeing him … like I said,’ replied Elizabeth, the smile fading as she spoke.

I waved to them as I walked off toward La Trobe Street. My mood had definitely improved from what it had been when I’d arrived. So, Sam wasn’t just being weird to me, he was being weird, totally. I decided I would give him until tonight to contact me, and then I’d ring him. It sounded like he just needed a good scolding, or shaking up, or something.

~~***~~

At three-thirty when my phone rang, I let out a huge sigh—I think I’d been holding my breath for hours. I answered it excitedly, only it wasn’t Sam.