Blackbird (30 page)

              “Oh, hello,” she said.

He was about to pass her on the sidewalk but when he came up beside her he stopped abruptly, turning to her and speaking so low that even if they’d been in a room full of people, only the two of them would have heard. “I’m afraid I’m a little lost. You see I’m not from around here and I’m staying at a hotel down by the harbour. The one with the casino. Do you know it?”

“Yes, I know it,” she said. Billie relaxed a little. He was just a lost tourist looking for directions. A common occurrence downtown. “You need to keep walking straight down this hill until you get to the bottom, and then turn left and keep walking until you see it. You can’t miss it. It has a big dome on top.”

He looked more confused than ever. “Oh dear. I hope I can get back there in the next few minutes. My son is waiting for me. He was nice enough to take his old father on this trip with him as he closed a big business deal. I’ve always wanted to see Nova Scotia. I hope I don’t keep him waiting.”

Billie’s curiosity was peaked. If there was anything she loved more than control it was money, and mostly the two went hand in hand. “What kind of business?”

“Oh, something to do with natural gas. I’m not entirely sure. I can’t wrap my head around such things. Not the way he can at least.

“Really? He must be doing very well for himself.”

“If you can call that monstrosity he sails around on doing well, then yes he’s done well.”

A yacht? Robert didn’t have a yacht. That was impressive. “Now he just needs to settle down. Find himself a nice girl and get married. But, listen to me going on. Thank you for the directions.” He flitted away as Billie was left standing there with her mouth hanging open for a moment.

“Wait!” she called. “It’s not that far. Just a few blocks but my car is right here if you’d like a ride back. I can drop you.”

The old gent turned back around with another smile. “Your kindness overwhelms me, my dear,” he said. “I’d heard tales of your hospitality and you’ve not disappointed. I would be most grateful for a ride.”

“Sure,” she said, escorting him to the passenger side and opening the door for him. He eased in but not without some effort that showed that he was getting on in years. When she came back around and hopped in the car he extended his hand to her.

“How rude of me. I didn’t even introduce myself. My name is Victor Slater. And you are?”

“Billie Winters,” she said taking his hand. Instead of shaking he planted a kiss on top of it.

“Billie. What a wonderful name. You must meet my son, Eric. I’m sure he’ll be most anxious to say thank you for helping an old man get around town.

***

              Staying hidden below the surface was the only way to remain undetected and accomplish this little task Victor had set up for her. The water was frigid here at this time of year but as unpleasant as it was, she knew she could withstand it, for a few hours at least, not that it would take that long. Her peacock blue feathers acted more like gills underwater, breathing for her, filling her blood and lungs with precious oxygen. She could breathe through them for a few hours too. Once they got tired it was a different story. If she wasn’t where she could get oxygen the old fashioned way she would die from that as well. Luckily she was naturally quick. All her gifts made her so.

              Slicing through the water without even causing a ripple of suspicion her wings took her in the direction of her target. It was certainly a large target and not well hidden, not that it was trying to be, war ships were made to be noticed, even the parts nobody really ever saw. Lindsay was staring at one of those parts right now.

              She came up on it, hard and fast, slamming into it with her open palms and giving it a jolt which everyone onboard undoubtedly felt. As the sheer mass of the ship lurched the water all around her sloshed and bubbled, obscuring her vision for a moment. She was finally there, almost done, now to do some damage. Using a small portion of her strength she reared back and with one solid punch busted a hole the size of her fist into the metal. Then she gripped the hole with both hands, pulling on it, extending it until it was the size of a tire, then widened it by half. Now it was big enough to do some damage, but not too quickly. They had to give Chelle time to hear about it and make a decision on what she was going to do. If the man on the bridge had been any indication they knew what she would do. She would show herself and they would have her.

              Once they did they would be able to find Robert and end the bond, thus re-bonding her to them. Lindsay smiled. She was looking forward to the day when she didn’t feel so all alone. Having a sister to share with would ease the burden of living, not to mention ease the burden of bearing Victor’s wrath on her own. He was her father, he took care of her, but the man had a temper like a wronged animal. There had been days, weeks, months, when she’d not spoken a word. Lindsay had longed for a normal life long ago, but had since given up those thoughts as they had become more of a torture than a comfort.

              Turning her back on the damaged vessel she pushed away from it with her feet and began her journey back to where she had begun to sit, to wait, to watch from a distance as the ship either sank into Halifax Harbour, or received some help from their now beloved Blackbird. The news would be all over this one way or another, but it couldn’t be helped. As she came back up onto shore and folded in her wings she sat, soaking wet and half naked on a snowbank. There weren’t many times where she was thankful she wasn’t human, but at a time like this she was certainly grateful. Anyone else would have been facing hypothermia. Not Lindsay. Although if that was the price for gaining a sister it would be well worth it.

Chapter Thirty-Three

              Chelle had flown, hard and fast, and for the first time since her wings had shown themselves all those years ago, they went into her back without any type of protest. What used to be an hour long ordeal had whittled itself down into a few seconds. They were as grateful for the rest as she was it seemed. Robert had taken her back to his place and she sat on the couch now with him. His arms around her in silence. They had been this way for the better part of an hour. To anyone looking at them from the outside it might have simply seemed like two people in love enjoying the silence and enjoying each other, but as they sat she could feel her body healing. The sickness that had claimed her this morning during flight had subsided and thanks to both the pressure suit and his presence, her back didn’t hurt at all.

              She could tell he was feeling it too and he lay his head on top of hers, breathing in and out in slow steady rhythm. Alone they were adrift. Together they were calm, at peace. She’d hoped they could stay this way for hours as neither one of them wanted to move, but that wasn’t to be because in the middle of their silent bliss Robert’s cell phone went off.

              “Mmm…” he murmured, aggravated at the disruption. The phone had been sitting face up on the coffee table and he didn’t so much as glance at it to see who it was. In fact he turned his head away in an attempt to ignore it until it stopped.

              “You better check it. It might be important.”

              “It couldn’t possibly be more important than you are,” he said, pressing his cheek against hers.

              Chelle removed his arms and put them down by his sides as he gave a reluctant sigh and picked up his phone. “It’s Paul,” she said.

              Robert gave an eye roll more befitting of a teenager than a grown man before answering. “Paul. Hi.” Chelle listened, only hearing one side. “Really? And it’s on TV?” A long silence. “No, absolutely not. I’ll talk to you later.” Robert hung up abruptly and threw the phone back down on the coffee table.

              “What did Paul want? What’s on TV?”

              The look on his face said that telling her was the last thing he wanted to do. “It’s not important. Everything’s being taken care of. Just stay here with me.”

              “Where would I be going? Robert, tell me what’s going on.”

              Robert ran his hands through his hair, deciding to come clean. “There’s a ship out in the harbor that’s sinking apparently. It’s all over the news.”

              Chelle picked up the remote that was sitting next to Robert’s cell phone and turned it on, going directly to one of the local channels. A live shot from a helicopter showed a massive war ship with most of the back end now underwater. It was sinking and the anchor was talking about the rescue effort. Help was on the way but the ship contained a fairly large crew. The scene of people on the outside of the ship was one of controlled panic as the massive grey structure lowered itself further into the icy harbour waters.

              “Chelle, don’t even think about it. We’re a port city. There are things and people in place for times like this. They’ll be rescued.”

              “It’s happening too fast. Robert, I might be able to help. I can’t just sit here and watch.”

              Through his clenched jaw he quietly said, “No, I don’t suppose you can.” He grabbed her hand, squeezing it and gave her a kiss. “Please be careful, Chelle.”

              Chelle picked up the mask that was sitting on the coffee table as well. The black butterfly shaped face covering had seemed ridiculous when Greg had offered it to her before, but he’d given it to her on the argument that it would protect her anonymity somewhat. Now she realized he’d been right. “I will.”

              She put it on and headed for the front door. “Better go out the back way,” he said. “Just to be safe.”

              “Oh, yeah good idea.”

              Turning back she saw Robert wringing his hands together in a fit of anxiety. She felt it as much as observed it and was feeling the same way. For now though, those feelings would have to wait.

***

              Robert sat back down on the couch and stayed put for exactly five minutes. Given the tremendous pull he felt to follow Chelle that was quite enough. He grabbed his keys and phone and headed for the door. If only he could fly too, he’d have followed her right out the back door. But if he couldn’t do that he’d settle for taking a drive down to the harbour. The ship was around the other side of St. George’s Island and if he was there he might be able to see, at least a little bit. As long as Chelle was going to be out there he knew he couldn’t just sit on the couch and watch it on TV. He had to go.

***

              The ship’s stern continued to sink lower and lower and as Chelle got closer she could hear the screams of panicked sailors ringing in her ears. The control she had over her wings now was easy as a simple thought and she circled the ship from above trying to decide on the best course of action. Taking a look at the water beginning to seep into the lower levels she knew there was really only one thing she could do.

              As she swooped around once more she came down on the deck, landing next to an officer. Everyone gaped at her as the dread gave way to stunned silence. There was no time for introductions or preliminaries, just simple, blunt communication. “Listen,” she said to the uniformed man. “I saw a rescue boat coming. Get everyone on it as fast as you can. I’m going to try to lift the ship up out of the water. I don’t know if I’ll be able to or how long I can hold it if I do so go as fast as you can.” In astonished quiet he gave a nod.

              With that Chelle jumped up and glided downwards, grabbing the ship with her open palms. The rough wet metal was slippery but she managed to find a spot suitable for gripping and then with everything she had in her began to push upward. As the water began to rush out the ship levelled out again. From her vantage point she could see what the problem was. A large hole just under the water, although how it got there was a mystery. It looked almost like it had been hit with something. The ships came around this point all the time with no problems and so running into something in these waters was highly unlikely.

              After about five minutes of holding the ship steady Chelle heard something coming toward her. A motor, and it was getting closer. She turned her head in time to see a large coast guard vessel pull up alongside her. When the bow was about fifteen feet away from her the large red and white boat came to a standstill. She could see the looks of disbelief on the faces of each of the crew, who had all come to the front of the ship to see her.

              “Um… Are you
holding
that up there miss Blackbird?”

              What the hell else could she be doing? “I am. Everyone is getting off but as soon as I let it go it’s going to sink.”

              There was a long pause as they continued to stare, dumbfounded. “How long can you hold it up exactly?”

              “Well, I’ve never propped up a war ship with my bare hands before so I’m not even gonna try to guess. It’s been five minutes now.”