August (The Year of The Change Book 2) (22 page)

I couldn't help standing at the back door to stare at the row of marigolds that bordered the phenomenon that was our raspberry patch. It was amazing how that first – hopefully the start of many gardens— looked in the muted light. The yellow and orange popped at the base of the raspberry sticks, which had already filled out with new leaves. Emma was a miracle worker.

Speaking of Emma, she’d come over while I was trying to find weeds to pull. We talked for almost an hour about plants and gardens. I already knew a lot of what she taught, but it was interspersed with very interesting things I didn't know. Since Dad insisted I go to college, maybe I could major in botany. Maybe it would be something I wouldn't fail miserably at that.

Dinner was cleaned up and the dishes done. Sue turned off the light and left the kitchen. That was her not so subtle way to tell me it was time to close the door and leave her domain. It was no use bucking her, so I shut the door with one last look at Emma's miracle and left the darkened room.

The twins watched TV while Dad and Sue read the paper, snuggled on the couch. Gross. I didn't want to watch TV or the adults being smoochie faced, so I went upstairs.

From my window I could just see the patch, now in full shadow from the fence and the glow in the west. There was hope for this backyard after all. There wasn't hope for me after The Change, but at least this yard would grow and bloom.

I got out my book and opened it as I sat on my bed. This old, tattered book turned out to be pretty good. Too bad I was almost to the end. I hoped to make it to the library and back, tomorrow, without Cory and Danny ambushing me like the last two times.

My lids fought for dominance when I finished the last chapter. Groggy, I closed the cover and placed it on the floor beside my bed.

I was in my garden with all the flowers and vegetables. This time I looked for Eli. I wanted that first kiss I’d missed out on last time. I turned around, looked and waited for him to pop out of nowhere with his big smile.

The tall corn stood sentinel and I circled it twice, touching the leaves as I passed. If only I could find him waiting for me amid the stalks. But he wasn't there. He was nowhere to be seen.

On the other side of the corn, Emma was picking large, perfect strawberries.

"Have you seen Eli?"

She shook her head and smiled. "No, but be patient, he will come."

That didn't settle my nerves and I hurried off. He had to be here somewhere.

The sweet pea vines were thick with pods as they climbed an old garden gate that had been posted in the middle of them. But he wasn't there.

Cara was in the herb garden with a tall, black-haired man who had his back to me. He held her in his arms.

"Cara, have you seen a good looking guy with dark hair and lots of muscles?"

She looked up into the man's eyes with a big smile and sighed. "Yes, and he's wonderful." She sighed again as he stroked her hair. Cara wasn't going to be any help.

Maybe he was behind the raspberry patch. The patch had grown and filled the space with big, full vines drooping, heavily laden with berries. I wanted to sit and eat some of the plump, juicy berries, but worried I would miss Eli if I did. There was a large bowl on the ground at the base of the path. I could pick berries so when I found Eli, I could share with him. All the while I picked, I looked around for him, even spilling some berries because I wasn't paying close enough attention to what I was doing.

When the bowl was full, a big guy, bigger than Eli, walked by and took it, eating the berries as he walked away. His long black hair swayed with his lumbering stride.

"Hey, those aren't for you!"

"Yes, they are." He slowed his steps.

I walked quickly to catch up with him. "No, they're for Eli."

He shook his head. "No, they're all mine, Eli doesn't deserve them." He turned suddenly and pulled me to him. I didn't see his face before he had my head cupped between his hand and chest. He stroked my hair and kissed the top of my head. "He doesn't deserve any part of you. He'll never love you as much as I do." His strong arms held me tight, not too tight, just right. His warm embrace was comforting and I relaxed.

Emma tugged at my arm. "You need to be patient. Eli will come."

The mention of Eli's name brought me back to my senses. What was I doing? These arms were what I wanted, but they weren't attached to the one I was meant to be with. I tried to push away. The arms held me tighter.

"Let me go!"

"No, I'm better for you than Eli."

"No one's better than Eli."

Emma stood by and watched as I struggled to free myself. The man would not let go and held tighter.

"Emma, help me get loose!"

She shook her head and smiled. "I cannot do that. You must find the strength to walk away."

"What?"

He was so much stronger than I was. There was no way I could ever over power him.

"Sylv, I will always love and protect you. You have nothing to fear from me. You could be very happy with me."

In my mind's eye I walked in the forest with this man, hand in hand. I could see the happiness on my face. Yes, I could be happy with him. I knew that. I also knew Eli was the one. Only, he might not want me. This man was a sure thing while Eli was only a maybe.

What was it Gramps use to say? Oh yeah,
a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
. I'd never really understood what he meant until now. Do I take the bird in my hand or do I chase after the two in the bush? The one right here seemed pretty good.

Emma shrugged. "You have to decide."

"Sylvia!" I knew that voice.

The man growled and held me so tight I could barely breathe.

"Sylvia!" It was Eli calling.

I struggled to free myself. "Eli!"

"Sylvia, where are you!"

"I'm over here!" I fought to free myself.

The man whispered in my ear. "No, Sylv, don't leave me."

My heart wrenched. He truly wanted me. I was going to hurt him if I left.

Emma patted me on the shoulder as though she knew what I was thinking.

"Sylvia, I can't find you!"

I had to get loose! The man would not let go and would growl every time Eli called for me.

"Let go!! Please let go, I'm not strong enough to fight you!"

"Let go! Please let go!" Try as I might, I couldn't free myself.

"Sylv, quit struggling."

Who was that?

"Sylv, ow, Sylv, please calm down."

My father? Why was he telling me to calm down? Does he want me with this man that I don't know?

"No, I have to find Eli!"

"Sylv." The man shook me. "Sylv, wake up."

"What?"

My garden faded away. No, I had to find Eli and he was in the garden.

"Sylv, wake up!" He shook me again.

I blinked and was no longer in the garden. The room was cast in shadow. Where was I? A breeze blew over my skin and I shivered. I wasn’t outside. A door close and I looked up in time to see Sue bolt the front door. My dad held me firmly. We stood in the entryway. Sue had her back to the door as though guarding it.

"How'd I …?"

I let the rest of the question drift away as I knew the answer. Dad smiled slightly and loosened his grip.

"You were sleepwalking again."

"Sleepwalking? No!" It was all a dream and Eli wasn't there. I slumped to the floor with my father's arms still around me.

"Sylvia, are you alright?"

I shook my head, tears flooded to the surface. "It was all so real." I wanted it to be real.

"Grandmother did say your dreams would be vivid."

I fought the waterworks. "She didn't say they would be
this
vivid." He sat beside me and I leaned my head on his shoulder. "Dad, this is getting too weird."

"Yeah, tell me about it, this makes four times in what … a dozen days?"

Little did he know it was number nine— at least, nine that I knew of. "Yeah, something like that."

Dad squeezed my shoulders. "Come on. It’s time to get you back to bed." He stood and pulled me to my feet.

"I'm sorry I woke you again."

"Don't worry about that. You know, Tim's alarm sure has come in handy." He prodded me up the stairs with Sue securely under his arm. "I think I'll call Aunt Betty tomorrow and ask her if she knows anything."

"Thanks, Dad."

He chuckled. "Anything to get a full night's sleep."

I felt terrible he wasn't getting enough rest.

Dad tucked me into bed and I listened as he tromped down the stairs and closed the door, adjusting the tin cans in case I went active again.

I doubted I would be able to go back to sleep, but was wrong.

Echo in the Dark

With a start, I awoke, not sure where I was. When the fog of sleep lifted, I was in my bed, but was at the wrong end, the covers were all pulled up and balled around my neck.

I didn't remember dreaming, but I could tell I hadn't rested well. I sat up feeling like I needed more sleep, but was too afraid to close my eyes. I got up instead. Today was going to be a long one.

They Got Big

I went out back to dump a bowl of vegetable peels in the raspberry patch. Almost there, I stopped dead in my tracks. For a moment I wasn’t sure I was seeing what I was seeing. As sleep deprived as I was, it could’ve been a hallucination. I blinked a couple of times to make sure my eyes weren’t doing a hiccup. They weren’t. I stared in disbelief at how big the marigolds were. They had to be a foot and a half high already and twice as bushy. Emma and I had only planted the six-inch plants two days ago.

With unsure steps, I finished the distance to my new patch. They had lots of new buds.

The contents of the bowl slid into the hole I made with the toe of my shoe. I knelt beside the plants and recovered the ground. The smooth leaves were supple as my fingers stroked as many as I could reach easily. They were growing very well. On my knees, I went along the row checking for weeds, there were none, of course. I made sure the mulch was snug around each plant before I went in the house.

With the bowl rinsed and stacked, I turned to Sue. “Have you seen how big the marigolds have gotten?”

She glanced up from the pot she stirred. “No, I haven’t looked today. They can’t be much bigger than they were yesterday.”

“Maybe they’re not. They just seem bigger to me.” At the back door I looked out the screen. They sure looked bigger, and filled out, too. Sue stepped to the door as she wiped her hands on a towel. She looked, and then looked again. Her forehead furrowed. She went around the other side of me and looked out the window, as though changing her view point would give her a better perspective.

“They do look bigger.” Her eyes hooded and her mouth clamped into a straight line.

“Could it be the fertilizer we used?” I hoped she would agree with me or say they weren’t
that
much bigger.

“Maybe.” She looked at me for a second then went back to the stove.

She was silent and frowned at the bubbling water. I must’ve weirded her out. She probably thought I did something to them. Maybe I did. I don’t know. Anything was possible at this point.

The plates were stacked on the counter so I set the table. In another hour, Dad would be home and I could ask him what he thought.

The backyard called and I was down the steps before fully thinking about it. I made myself comfortable on our lush grass and watched the flowers as though I might be able to see them grow.

“Hey, Sylv!” Destiny walked towards me. The gate hadn’t banged. “What are you doing?”

“Just looking at how big the marigolds have gotten.”

She took a seat beside me and wrapped her arms around her knees. “They’re about the same size as ours.”

“They are? Are they a fast growing variety?”

She shrugged. “I guess so.”

Knowing theirs were just as big made me feel better. It hadn’t been my weirdness after all.

“So what brings you over?”

“Mom’s inside talking to Sue about going to the lake again. One last time before school starts.”

My mood shifted into high. “Really?”

“Yeah, it’s supposed to be very nice Saturday.” She chuckled. “Maybe this time you won’t have to save anyone.”

I rolled my eyes at the memory. “We can only hope.”

Besides the fear of almost losing Richard, the last trip to Lake Louise had been fun.

“Richard found a three man raft at the hardware store, so he’s got Eddy all pumped about going out to the island.”

“The twins will love that. You’ll go with us this time won’t you?”

She sighed. “I guess so. But I get to ride in the raft.”

“Deal. It’ll be more fun with you there.”

“Thanks.”

We sat quietly listening to the night sounds tune up for their nocturnal musical. One by one each, section joined the nightly chorus, becoming louder. With a perfect cue, the sun slunk behind the mountains and cast its shadow over us. The air chilled slightly and I shivered. I was never going to get used to the evening sky not getting pitch black at night.

Cara called out our back door. “Come on, Dest, let’s go home and eat.”

“Coming.” She uncurled herself and stretched. Shivering, we went inside the house.

“Let’s do something tomorrow.” Other than the garden, that didn’t need much tending, I didn’t have anything to do.

We entered the kitchen. Dinner smelled great and I wondered if there would be time for me to have a snack before Dad got home.

“Let’s go watch the football team practice.” She bounced her eyebrows at me.

I winced at the idea, Caleb still fresh on my mind. “I don’t think so, Dest.”

Cara put her arm around her daughter. “How about if you get started on the scarves you promised to make?” Destiny groaned as we headed down the hall. “You have six to make, four before the snow gets here.”

“Okay.” She looked over at me. “You want to come knit with me?”

“I don’t know how to knit, but I’ll watch and keep you company.”

“I’ll teach you.”

“Okay, but I’m not real coordinated with my hands.”

Sue shook her head. “You do okay with macramé.”

Was that a compliment? It was skinny and depleted of nourishment, but beautiful all the same.

I snorted, couldn’t let Sue think I let the compliment go to my head. “Yeah, I can make knots, but I’m not sure that’s a good thing when it comes to knitting.”

At the front door, Cara turned to me. “Knitting is easy. I’m sure you’ll catch on quickly.”

Destiny shrugged. “If I can’t teach you then Grandmother can. She can teach anybody anything.”

Sue tried to teach me to crochet, once, when I was twelve. We both became frustrated quickly. I shuddered at the memory. I would be the exception to Emma’s perfect record. With success only iffy, I still agreed to try to learn to knit. I must be a glutton for punishment. Or maybe I just needed something to take my mind off my sleepwalking. The thought of closing my eyes tonight made my stomach twist.

Dad did call Aunt Betty and she said Gram had sleepwalked, too. She said it lasted about six weeks. So, approximately three more weeks before my father could rest peacefully again. I didn't know about him, but I sure needed better sleep.