Etched (12 page)

Chapter 20

After a quick breakfast in their pajamas, they threw on some clothes and walked out into the bright winter
sun.  The pressure of the unknown was hanging over them so they purposefully dallied by tending to the sheep instead of walking straight to the dock.  They strolled hand in hand, and sometimes arm in arm, towards the water where they watched boats in the distance sail by.  After an hour Kane finally gave a determined smile, “I guess I can’t delay it forever.”

“Be optimistic
. Maybe you’re here to stay.”

“Maybe,”
he answered but the look on his face disclosed his uncertainty.

Hand in hand they walked to the dock, their pace slow but determined. 
Kane stopped where the wooden boards met the grass and looked out across the water towards the mainland, “It’s okay … either way,” Susanna looked up at him and smiled.

Kane took the first step on the faded boards with Susanna by his side.  Resolute he took another and then another until he was about
five feet from shore, “See,” she smiled, “It’s working!”  Her eyes held a distinct sheen of hope as she urged him to continue.

Silently Kane took another ten steps until he was nearly to the edge of the dock.  Standing stoically he
stretched his hand into the air above the open water.  Susanna was smiling as his hand gleamed in the sunlight but her smile soon faded when the image of his hand began to disappear.  In disbelief she looked at him, “Kane?”  To her horror his entire body began to fade before her eyes as if he were made of mist, “Kane!  Come back to shore!” she screamed and reached for him but her hand sliced through him as if he were a ghost.

Kane suddenly doubled over and
bellowed in pain.  His eyes closed and he grabbed his chest and called out to her, “Susanna,” his voice was weak as if he were speaking to her from somewhere else.

“Oh my God, no, Kane!”
Susanna cried again and reached for him but once again she could grasp nothing even though he was clearly in front of her yet fading from vision.

“Go
! Go to the shore!” he yelled through his pain.

Susanna was crying frantically, feeling
powerless to help him, “Tell me what to do!”

Kane fell to his knees, “Go,” he cried out again
, the word seeming to take the last of his strength.

Susanna raced back to the grass and turned toward the dock and watched in horror as Kane began to crawl towards shore.  She sank to her knees and watched
horrified as he inched towards her.  She cried out over and over calling his name and covering her face, not wanting to watch to scene in front of her.  Inch by inch Kane crawled across the wooden dock, his face plastered with pain.  Susanna had never felt more helpless in her life as she watched the life drain from his body.  She held out her hand when he was a mere foot from her and she tried to reach for him but again, her hand sliced right through his.

“Oh God,” she cried, “Please don’t let this happen.”

Kane crawled ever so slowly off the dock and into the grass beside her.  She was still unable to touch him, her hands feeling nothing but thin air even though she could clearly see him there.  Kane collapsed, motionless as Susanna quietly cried beside him.  After a few minutes his body appeared clearer, his image sharper and she hesitantly reached out to touch him. 

“Kane!” she cried out
, realizing she could feel him again.  She pulled him up to sit beside her then wrapped both her arms around him, hugging him to her, “Can you feel me?  I’m here, I’m right here.”

Kane was weak with exhaustion but was able to entwine his fingers
with hers.  Susanna sat like that, rocking him back and forth for a few minute while he gathered his strength, “Let’s go inside. Can you walk?”

Kane nodded slowly and had to be helped up but was somehow able to make it inside.  Susanna sat him before the fire and immediately threw a blanket around hi
s shoulders and held him again.  They sat quietly for the next hour, neither one of them saying a word while silent tears streamed down both of their faces.   

When Kane seemed to gain enough strength he looked down at her,
unspoken pain alive and glowing in his eyes, “Do you see?”

Susanna could do nothing but nod.

“I’ll be trapped here, forever.  It’s a life you don’t deserve,” he hung his head low as tears once again filled his eyes. 

“I want a life with you
. It doesn’t matter what that entails,” she wiped away his tears, “I was sent here for a reason. I think I was sent here to save you.”

“Maybe I’m not meant to have more, maybe a week with you is all I get,” he smiled at her
faintly, “and if that’s all I’m allowed, I’m grateful.”

Susanna shook her head,
unwilling to accept it, “No, there’s got to be more.  I want more.”

Kane held her as she cried in his arms before the fire, neither of them sure what fate had in store.

An hour later Susanna had talked Kane into a warm bath, hoping it would help the weakness that he felt.  She was filling the buckets with heated water and in response Kane immediately demanded that she not carry them. 

“I’m stronger than you are right now!”
Susanna said, her hands on her hips in retaliation.

Kane
bent to lift the buckets, “You will not win this fight.”

After multiple trips the bathtub began to fill
. Susanna added some liquid from her bath soap and stirred it around until soft bubbles began to form on the surface.

“I’m to have a bubble bath?” he asked
with raised brows.

“It’s lavender vanilla
. It’s relaxing.  And it will help hide your … modesty.”

“My modesty needs hiding?”

“Yes … apparently you have a much stronger will than I do. Now get in,” she pointed to the bath and closed the door behind her, “I’ll be back in a minute.”

Once the door was closed she grabbed her phone and went into the kitchen and dialed Emma’s number.

“Hello,” the friendly voice on the other end sounded.

“Emma … its Susanna.”

“Is everything okay?”

“No
. To make a long story short, he woke up here again today, in the daylight, and I thought maybe the spell or curse or whatever the hell it is was broken so he tried to walk out on the dock like he did before and he practically disappeared before my eyes.  It was horrible,” her tears were welling once again. 

“I’m sorry Susanna, I wish I knew what to tell you,” Emma answered.

“I know somehow I’m the key to all this but how?”

“I wish I knew dear.”

“He’s only able to be here when I’m here and yet he is still unable to leave!”

“Something
powerful is tying him to that place. Something from his past,” Emma replied.

“He died here!  Of course he’s tied to it
. But how come things are different when I’m here?” Susanna was trying to whisper so that Kane couldn’t hear her through the door.

“I’ve thought about it over and over, I wish I knew.  I
honestly thought you being there would break it. I’m at a loss like you are.  But it’s got to be something else, something besides his death that is causing him to relive this over and over.”

Susanna chewed her lip as she held the phone to her ear, “I’m not giving up.”

“I knew you wouldn’t, Susanna. But let me ask you, are you prepared for your life if you never break this curse or worse?  What if you do and he dies in his time … for good?”

Susanna silent
ly processed Emma’s words.  It had never occurred to her before that the curse being broken could possibly mean that he would never return. 

“As long as he doesn’t suffer anymore I
’m okay.  I would prefer him to be here with me, forever. But if stopping this means that he is never subjected to that horrible lonely death again, I’ll have to make peace with being without him.”

“I want to meditate on it, Susanna.  Maybe the answer will come to me,” Emma said with sadness, “meanwhile, please take care of him
, although I know you are.”

“I will,” Susanna answered, hanging up the phone.

Susanna knocked gently on the bathroom door and waited for his voice to enter.  Once she did, she saw him reclined leisurely in the tub.

“
How do you feel?”

Kane
attempted a weak smile, “Better.”

Susanna sat on a towel on the floor beside him, “Can I get you something?”

Kane shook his head, “You’ve done enough.”  

“I can’t help but feel responsible for this
. I’m so sorry,” Susanna rested her head against his damp arm.

“I would have tried it again, just to see.  You were just a little more hopeful than I was,” Kane
’s lips brushed her brow, “Were you talking to someone?  I could hear you …”

Susanna nodded, “I called Emma
. I wanted to get her opinion about what happened.”

“And what did she say?”

“She’s at a loss.”

“I think we must prepare ourselves for there to be no answer.”

Susanna was determined, “No. I won’t settle for that.”

“You might not have a choice.”

“This can’t be the way it’s supposed to be,” Susanna shook her head, “There has to be more.”

Kane’s look was one of
gentle concession, “Okay Susanna.”

“I know you’re saying that to pacify me,” Susanna pouted.

“If you can change my predicament after a century by simply being dissatisfied with the outcome you have my complete support,” Kane managed a rugged smile.

Susanna was determined
at that point to change the subject, “Here, I’ll wash your back,” she reached for the soap and began to lather it in her hands, “Tell me about the tattoo.  I know I’ve seen that symbol before.”

Kane rubbed his fingers across the
marking on his chest, “It’s the Celtic knot.  I got it when I was young. It reminded me of home.” 

“Ireland?”

“Yes.”

“I’ve always wanted to go to Ireland,” Susanna ran her soapy fingers over his bare
shoulders, “It looks beautiful.”

“In my time people did all they could to escape Ireland
with its’ disease and poverty. From what I hear when people talk, now it appears to be a tourist destination.”

Susanna nodded, “I
t’s extremely popular.”

“It’s why we left.  My parents wanted something better for Liam and myself,” Kane sounded distant as he reminisced, “Sometimes I wonder what our lives would have been like had we just stayed at home.”

Susanna had no words for a reply.  She couldn’t imagine not knowing him and being there with him in that very moment, and yet she knew that if he had never come to America he would not have suffered the way he had for the last hundred years.

“Had someone told me I would be here with you … in this situation, I would have called them a liar,” Susanna reached down into the water to rinse his back.

“I’m almost sorry I had Emma send for you.  I’m afraid …”

“Don’t say that, Kane.  I want to be here, I want to help.  I feel like somehow I’m the key to all this,” Susanna paused remembering her conversation with Emma, “Emma feels like there is something we’re missing, something tying you to this place.”

Kane shook his head, “I’ve been here for so long, I’m sure I’ve thought of everything.  I can’t imagine that she can think of something else … but I pray that she does.”

Chapter 21

Susanna went to the closet and
chose Kane another outfit before making them a light lunch.  She opened up all the shutters in the house, allowing the bright sun to cascade through the windows.  When he came around the corner, dressed in a pair of jeans and a light blue long sleeve t-shirt Susanna turned and offered him a smile, “Emma has good taste.”

Kane ran his fingers through his damp hair, “I feel better, thank you for insisting on the bath
,” he winked at her playfully, “I smell good too.”

“See
. Sometimes my persistence pays off,” she gave him a wicked smile.

“Don’t tempt me,”
his eyes instantly darkened.

“I’ve made us something to eat, then we have the afternoon to do … whatever,” she shrugged.

“So your device, your … telephone … it plays music as well?” Kane asked as he took a bite of his sandwich. 

“Yep, it’s multi-purpose.  It can search the internet, make phone calls, play music … just about anything you want it to do, it can.”

“It’s quite an invention.  I’ve watched them change through the years. It’s nothing short of amazing.”

Susanna nodded, “You can’t live without one now days.  People do dangerous and stupid things because they are talking on the phone and not paying attention to what
’s going on in front of them.”

Kane looked down at his attire, his elbows on the table as he took a sip of his drink, “The clothes have certainly improved.”

“I liked your old clothes,” Susanna smiled.

“They were horribly uncomfortable compared to these.  This is very soft and very … casual.”

“I guess in your time men wore suits and the women wore dresses and horrible torture devices to make them look skinny and sleek.”

Kane laughed, “Torture devices?”

“Yes. I would consider the old fashioned corset a torture device.  You’ve never had to wear one so you’re not allowed to judge.”

“Neither have you!” Kane
replied with a laugh.

Susanna shrugged, “True, but I stand in solidarity
with all the women who threw them out … or burned them, whatever.”

“I must have missed the corset burning riots in Boston,” Kane
gave her a lopsided grin as he rose from the chair and gathered both of their plates and placed them in the sink.

“So what did you do for fun back in your day … Kane O’Reilly?” Susanna gathered the rest of the things from the table and took them to the counter.

Kane paused as he rinsed a dish, “I was working most days, building furniture or whatever else I could find to do that kept me outdoors.  But occasionally my brother and Rayna would drag me to some social function where I would be forced to mingle with society.”

“You didn’t like those events?” Susanna asked, drying a plate he handed her.

“Like I said, I preferred to be outdoors. My brother was the social one of our family.”

“Were they trying to introduce you to a single lady?” Susanna’s eyes sparkled.

“Possibly,” Kane grinned.

“And how did that work out?”

“Not well.”

“Why is that?  I can’t imagine that all the women of Boston weren’t throwing themselves at you.”

“Oh, I had quite a few offers,” Kane shrugged, “But no one seemed worth the while.  And there was the secret fact that I was politely in love with my brother’s fiancé.”

Susanna looked at him with skepticism, “What on earth does politely in love with mean?”

“It means that I loved Rayna but she was never in any danger of me making some untoward advances because I respected her and my brother too much for that.”

“Such a gentleman,” Susanna nudged him on the arm, “Did she know?”

“Oh, I’m sure she did.  My brother and I joked about it occasionally.”

“So she was the only one, huh?”

Kane’s eyes narrowed at her and the corner of his mouth lifted in a smile, “If you mean she was the only one that I loved at the time, yes.  And now that I have had a century to really dwell upon it, I think it was because she was unlike all the other social climbing ladies of my time that were only interested in men for their money or connections.  Rayna was different.  She wasn’t afraid to work and get her hands dirty whether it was in the barn or volunteering at the hospital.  She was just different … and that’s what I loved about her,” Kane was distant as he reflected on the past.

“She sounds like a wonderful person
.”

“She was.  And she was perfect for my brother,” Kane went back to washing the dishes.

“So, she was it, no other women … to speak of?” Susanna pushed for more information.

“I said
Rayna was the only woman I loved, not that she was the
only
one,” Kane answered, carefully choosing his words. 

“So, there were women …”

“I wasn’t celibate, Susanna, if that is what you’re asking.”

Susanna sighed, “Of course you weren’t.”

“I never claimed to be an angel.  I’m thirty-one for Christ’s sake … or at least I was ….”

“Well,”
Susanna sighed, “None of us are.”

Kane pursed his lips together to hide a smile, “Yes
. I figured that out this morning.”

Susanna flush
ed with color, “What do you mean?”

“I can’t say for sure, and it’s certainly not gentlemanly of me to discuss it, but I would venture to say that not many … inexperienced women know their way around a waistband as you do.”

Susanna stifled a laugh, “Times have changed. But I’m sure you already knew that.”

“I’ve seen my fair share of arduous young people come through here to know that things are not quite as they use to be.”

Susanna’s eyes were wide in surprise, “Kane!  Have you spied on people here when they were …”

“Absolutely not!
  After many years of lurking in the shadows of this place you learn when to disappear.  There are many places to hide in this prison. I’ve discovered all of them.”

“So you’ve never spied … at all?”

“Susanna, I’ve had no human contact since 1909 except for Emma Bailey and now you.  Why on earth would I gaze upon a forbidden fruit?” Kane paused with his hands in the sink as he waited for a response.

“I get it,” Susanna nodded, “So, in all your years here
, you never let your presence be known in your own way.”

Kane hesitated, “I can’t say that
. I certainly intervened a few times where I saw a dire need.”

Susanna was surprised, “For example?”

“Well, there were a few men who tended to be a little rough with their spouses after an argument or frankly for no reason at all.  Unable to physically intervene, I would knock something over or worse to get their attention.”

“Did that work?”

“Of course.  Even the most hardened man is not immune to the chair that suddenly moves across the room.  Although I would hesitate to describe those people as men at all with the nasty way they treated their women.”

“Kane, you threw a chair across the room?” Susanna was astounded yet smiling.

“I might have … moved one across the room rather rapidly, yes.”

“What else,” Susanna dried her hands and leaned against the counter looking at him, “What else did you do?”

“For the child that misplaced something I would lay it on the bed or couch.  If I saw something unsafe or life threatening I would of course intervene, I wasn’t going to sit by and watch someone get hurt.”

Susanna tapped
her fingers on his chest, “So, they can’t see you but you can move things and touch things.  You eat, sleep, drink and do whatever you want and yet I’m the only one able to see it?”

Kane turned the water off and took the towel from her, “You and Emma.”

“Right, me and Emma.  And Emma is a medium and can see and feel and detect all kinds of things.”

Kane
thoughtfully measured her with cool intensity, “She is.”

“So what does that make me?” Susanna questioned.

“What are you saying?”

“I mean, what if I have some sort o
f special power to see you too … like a medium or ghost person.”

“Ghost person?”

“Well, you know what I mean,” Susanna shook her head and dismissed his look of confusion, “I mean, what if I’m like Emma and I just never realized it?”

“
Which means that I’m a ghost that only you and Emma can see?”

“It’s possible,” Susanna trailed off.

Kane grabbed her, spinning her around in one swift move and lifted her up onto the bare counter.  Startled, she held onto his shoulders, “Do I feel like a ghost to you?” Kane’s hands quickly parted her knees before he hastily positioned himself in between her legs.  Pulling her hips forward until she was flush with his body, he lowered his lips to hers, “Do you doubt that I’m real?”  Kane’s kiss deepened ruthlessly, his tongue swirling rhythmically against hers, leaving her weak from his assault.  She groaned inwardly and pulled him closer, her hands burying in his hair, her fingers tugging him closer.  He pulled his lips away only momentarily, “Does that feel like the touch of a phantom?”

Susanna couldn’t
muster an answer. She pulled him closer, her mouth slanting over his, wanting more of him.  After several seconds it was Kane who slowed the pace and began to dial back the frenzy of their embrace.  His kiss turned slow and methodical, his hands gently rubbing her legs and back.

“Are you convinced, Madam?”
he whispered against her moist mouth.

Susanna was practically gasping, “If I said no would you prove it to me?”

Kane grinned mischievously, “I would ask what you mean by that but I’m terrified you’ll tell me.”

Susanna took a deep breath, “You don’t play fair,” she scolded him.

Kane’s lips were warm and sweet on hers, “If there’s anything that can melt my iron will it’s you.”

“Is that an invitation?”
her smile was eager and alive with seduction.

“Behave.  Let’s go out and enjoy the sunshine then you can teach me how to dance.”