Ashes on the Waves (32 page)

“Dr. Jackson, I need you to witness something.” She opened the envelope on her lap and pulled out a document consisting of several pages. “Deirdre, will you please go find our pilot, Mr. Jennings, and tell him we need him to notarize a document?”

“No-tar-ize,” Deirdre sounded out. “Yes, miss.” She scurried out the door.

“I’ll leave you to your business,” I said, feeling totally out of place.

She smiled. “You can stay if you want to. It’s about Deirdre and Megan. When I was home, I set up a trust fund for Deirdre. I also talked to Suzette’s parents and they agreed to take Deirdre in. I’m sure they’ll take Megan too. The girls will never have to worry again. They’ll be in a loving home and will go to the best schools.”

Polly and Edmond entered the room. Both were out of breath and red-faced.

“I hear the liI hear tbrary calling,” I said, slipping out the door. Brigid Ronan, rigid as stone, stared at me from the bottom of the staircase.

“Thank you for helping Anna,” I said. “The doctor says she’s going to be okay.”

She neither moved nor spoke. Something about her demeanor sent tremors through me. I forced myself to remain controlled as I descended the stairs and made my way to the library.

Once inside, I took several deep breaths to calm myself. I flipped on the light and sat on a tapestry chair nearest the window. With sunlight streaming in, it would be the perfect place to read a book. I wondered if my mother had sat in that very chair reading. I pictured the portrait of her with her haunted expression and the spotted fur wrap draped over her shoulders. My breath caught. She wore the spotted fur of a harbor seal.

I closed my eyes and recalled her tortured face and her enormous brown eyes . . . like Muireann’s . . . like Miss Ronan’s. A wave of nausea passed through me. Like
mine.

It made sense now. My mother had appeared out of nowhere. No one knew her. Well,
someone
had known her. Someone else I resembled.

Gooseflesh traveled up my arm, and the hair on the back of my neck prickled. I didn’t have to turn around to know Miss Ronan was in the room. “My mother was a Selkie,” I whispered.

She said nothing, but the rustling of her skirts let me know she was moving around the far side of the room. I turned to find her studying me.

“And my father was Francis Michael Richards.”

She stopped short. She had been in this house for twenty-five years, seven of them spent alone with Anna’s uncle before my mother arrived. Another piece of the horrible puzzle slipped into place.

“And he was your lover too, which is why you hate me.”

For the longest time, she stood stone still with the exception of the heaving of her chest with each desperate breath. She lifted her chin, her voice low and level. “I hate you for many more reasons than that.”

I sat still long after she left the room, allowing this new information to mesh with the old, raising more questions than it answered.

Dr. Jackson stepped into the room. “I’m heading out now. Annie will be feeling much better soon, but make her rest.” He extended his hand and I stood. “It was good to meet you, Liam.”

I shook his hand. “Likewise. Thank you.”

He smiled. “She tells me you’ll be coming back to the city with her. She’s very excited about it.”

“Me too.”

The helicopter motor roared to life outside. “Take care of her,” he said, patting me on the shoulder. “See you in New York.”

Through the library window, I watched as the pilot helped Deirdre and Megan into the helicopter. Once Dr. Jackson was inside, they lifted off. The girls had made it. They were safe on their way to a new life free from the dangers and oppression of Dòchas.

Like I would be soon, leaving my miserable past behind forever.

I had an irresistible urge to run to Anna’s room and tell her what I had found out, but I decided that it would be prudent to wait until she felt better.

Maybe she’d like it if I read to her. I pulled the volume of Tennyson poetrennyson y from the shelf that matched the one from my shed. I flipped open to the table of contents. Pressed neatly in the pages was a sheet of paper. I unfolded it and read it several times. It made no sense. Maybe someone had made notes while reading.

I read it out loud. “‘It is where my spirit found escape.’” I shrugged and placed it on the desk.

Anna smiled when I entered her room. “They’re gone,” she said. “I did it! I really did it.”

I climbed onto the bed next to her. “Indeed you did. They’ll be grateful the rest of their lives.” I brushed her hair from her forehead. “How are you?”

“I’m great.”

I flipped open the book. “Yes, you are.”

* * *

Muireann felt completely helpless. She had seen the flying machine arrive yesterday and the two men get out. Then they left this morning with the two young villagers. She had not seen Liam or Anna since the Na Fir Ghorm created the storm, and Brigid Ronan had not returned to the beach since her last meeting with them.

She considered shedding her pelt and sneaking back inside the dwelling but was afraid she would do something wrong or get caught by Brigid Ronan.

So, she waited. And waited. And waited.

Just before sundown, the machine returned, bringing with it a finely dressed woman and man.

* * *

I didn’t hear the helicopter arrive, so I was completely taken by surprise when Anna’s mother turned on the light. I’d fallen asleep on top of the covers with the book on my chest, Anna’s head on my shoulder. I’d seen lots of pictures of the wealthy heiress in the tabloids. She always looked perfect, just as she did now with her blond hair and green dress.

“I told you he was not to be here after dark,” she said to Miss Ronan as if I were not in the room.

“He was not amenable to that request,” Miss Ronan replied.

Anna’s mother approached the bed. “Imagine that.”

I tried to sit up without disrupting Anna. She startled awake and sat bolt upright. “Mom,” she gasped before breaking down into a coughing fit.

Her father entered the room and stood next to her mother, arms over his chest as he stared into my eyes in some sort of challenge.

“Hey, Dad,” Anna said, handkerchief still to mouth.

“We need to talk to you in private,” her mother said.

I shifted to get out of bed and Anna grabbed my arm. “Anything you want to say to me, you can say in front of Liam.”

Anna released me and I stood, extending my hand to her father. “I’m Liam MacGregor.”

He looked at my hand but made no move to shake it. “I know who you are,” he said.

I lowered my hand. “Maybe I should go.”

“Good idea,” her father replied.

Anna threw the covers off. “Liam, wait. Just wait downstairs, okay? I don’t want you to go.” Again, she degenerated into uncontrollable coughing.

I nodded and left, closing the door behind me. A lump formed in my throat. A my throll my life, I’d battled discrimination. This was no different, just more personal somehow. I slumped down onto the top step. This would be my lot no matter where I lived.

At first their voices were low but still discernible through the closed door.

Anna’s mother spoke first. “We met with the lawyer this morning to go over some company business and he told us you had been there when you were home. He said you have asked him to find an agent for that village boy’s art.”

“His name is Liam,” Anna replied, “and yes, I did. He’s extremely talented.”

Her mother cleared her throat. “He also said that you had gotten the trust paperwork in order and that you changed your will.”

Anna replied, but I couldn’t make out her response.

“You changed your will so that your money will be completely thrown away,” her father said.

“You have no idea what I did,” Anna responded before coughing. “The lawyer’s not allowed to tell you anything about it.”

“You are giving it to that boy, aren’t you?” her mother almost shouted.

My stomach dropped. Surely she hadn’t done such a thing. I gritted my teeth and closed my eyes, fighting the urge to throw up.

“Is that why you’re here?” Anna’s voice was shrill. “I almost died and you’re here because of that?”

“You would leave hard-earned Leighton money to
him
? Honestly, Anna, have you lost your senses?”

“No! I’ve come to my senses. And
you
didn’t work for that ‘hard-earned’ money. You inherited it through Grandpa just like I did. And you’ve totally missed the point. I almost died!” There was a long pause before she spoke again. “The money didn’t almost die.
I
did.”

“You’re right,” her father said, tone softer. “And we’re relieved you’re okay. We were very worried. We can talk about this later. We’re going to go unpack.”

“Say your good-byes to Mr. MacGregor,” her mother said. “The three of us will be leaving in the morning. Dr. Jackson says you will be okay to travel then.”

“Not without Liam,” Anna said as her father opened the door.

I stood and they passed by me to descend the stairs, not sparing me a second look.

I slipped into Anna’s room and pushed the door shut behind me.

Leaning back against the headboard, eyes closed, she looked fragile and tired. “I’m not leaving with them,” she said.

“Do you need anything?” I asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.

She opened her eyes and smiled. “You.”

I took her slender hand in mine. “I’m completely yours. Regardless of where you are.”

“I’m not leaving.”

The Cailleach’s reach might be infinite, but the Na Fir Ghorm wouldn’t be able to hurt her again in New York. “Perhaps it would be best if you leave, at least until you’re well.”

Her brow furrowed. “My parents will change their minds. They’re just pissed off right now. They won’t make me leave. I just need to talk to my dad after they calm down.”

I squeezed her hand. “Anna, I wasn’t thinking of themnking of.”

She sat forward. “You know the blue guys were there when the storm came then. That they did that by magic or something to hurt me.”

“Yes, I do.”

“It won’t happen again. I’m going to stay inside the house until we leave.
Together.
” She placed a hand on the side of my face. “There’s not room for both of us and my parents on the helicopter, so I’ll have it turn right around after dropping them off to come back and pick us up.”

She leaned back against the pillows piled against the headboard. “We’ll be free of this place. My parents will warm up to it. They have no real say anyway.”

For a brief, shining moment I allowed myself to believe this dream. To imagine us living together free from the darkness and misfortune that had followed me my entire life. “I love you, Anna.” The words were pitifully inadequate.

“I love you too,” she whispered. “And nothing and no one will ever keep us apart.”

The door cracked open and Miss Ronan cleared her throat. “The Leightons asked me to tell Mr. MacGregor it is time for him to leave now.”

I stood. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“I don’t want you to go,” Anna said.

“It’s only for one night. When you wake up, I’ll be here.”

She smiled. “Okay. Come back ready to leave this crappy little island forever.”

“Forever,” I repeated before leaving her room, heart so full, I was certain it would burst.

I couldn’t bring myself to go home. Instead, I watched from an outcropping of boulders overlooking the front of the mansion. The great stone beast of a house seemed to watch me back, its great gaping mouth mocking my insignificance and inadequacies. “She loves me,” I said, as if it could hear me. “And nothing in this world or any other can change it.”

Sometime well before sunrise, Miss Ronan strode calmly from the house and took the trail to the harbor. She strolled back later and disappeared into the house. Perhaps she was unable to sleep and had gone for a walk.

Just after sunrise, the small helicopter landed in the clearing in front of the mansion. A man I’d never seen before got out and entered the house. The pilot remained in the craft.

For several hours, no one came or went. Maybe the man was the lawyer and he would clear up the issues between Anna and her parents.

“Come back ready to leave this crappy little island forever,”
she had said. A silly grin spread across my face. For the first time, I was ready. Regardless of the difficulties learning the nuances of her world presented, they were preferable to this. And I would be with Anna.

The man who had arrived in the small helicopter came out of the house. He now wore the black robes of a priest. Perhaps he had come to counsel the family.

Her parents emerged, carrying their luggage. The pilot followed, lugging Anna’s huge suitcase. Anna didn’t join them. Maybe she was sending her things ahead.

Once the doors were closed, the large helicopter took off, followed by the small one.

Just as I stood to return to the mansion, Miss Ronan appeared from around the side of the house. She ran up the porch steps and disappeared inside.