Children of the Fog (32 page)

Just for a moment, until I catch my breath.

In the muted light, she caught sight of Sam's muddy pajamas and his bloody, bandaged hand. He held it close to his chest and she didn't want to think of what lay beneath the strips of cloth.

Then she saw the yellow happy face on Cortnie's nightgown.

"You're the girl I saw in the woods."

Cortnie looked at the ground. "I was trying to get away. I'm sorry Father hurt you."

"I know."

Sadie's vision blurred and she closed her eyes.

"Mommy, can we go now?"

"Yes, honey," she said, fighting another dizzy spell.

A few steps from daylight, she lurched to a stop, turned and gaped at Sam. "D-Did you say something?"

His sapphire eyes blinked. Then he signed
I love you, Mom
.

She tried to smile, but her face hurt. She was imagining things again. She knew she was in rough shape. Too much blood loss, combined with being battered and bruised.

She shook her head. Don't think about that now.

She was running out of time…and energy. She could have kicked herself for being so stubborn. For coming to the cave alone.

"Follow me," she said as she stepped out into the light.

The sun's rays bouncing off gray rock blinded her. Then she saw something wonderful. Jay was standing off to one side of the entrance, a flashlight in his hand.

She moved away from the mouth of the cave. "Jay!"

"I was just coming in after you," he said, visibly relieved.

"How…?" Her eyes trailed upward. "Ah, the helicopter."

"That's twice," he said, puffing out his chest. "In one day."

"There may be hope for you yet." She swayed and let out a moan.

"Sadie, are you all—" Jay noticed the children standing in the cave entrance. "Jesus Christ, Sadie! You were right all along."

"A mother knows," was all she could manage.

After that, everything happened in such a flurry of activity that she had to hold onto Jay for support. The droning black blot in the sky above them lowered a harness and she watched as the children were lifted to safety. Then she was hauled up into the air.

Once aboard the helicopter, a paramedic unfastened the harness and she collapsed in the seat beside Sam, emotionally and physically drained. She closed her eyes and heaved a sigh as small hands lovingly stroked her face. She was losing consciousness, until she heard the
click
of her seatbelt.

"Thanks, honey," she said, fighting to open her eyes.

Sam smiled—thumbs up—and said, "Snug as a bug."

Sadie's jaw dropped in shock. "You
can
talk."

She recalled Marina words—
three gifts
—and looked at Sam and Cortnie. "One, two…and now this."

She reached for her son's hand. "I love you, Sam."

"I love you too, Mommy," he said.

Then a winged black bird swept them away.

Sadie was feeling better by the time Jay wheeled her into the University of Alberta Hospital. The first person she saw was Matthew. He was pacing in the waiting room, and the second he saw her, his eyes brightened.

"Sadie! Are you okay?"

"I'm great."

"You, uh, don't look great."

She made a face. "Gee, thanks."

"The police told me to come to the hospital, but I didn't know why. I thought maybe…well…you know."

She smiled tearfully. "We brought you a gift."

Matthew's puzzled gaze flickered toward Jay. Sadie knew the exact second that he noticed his daughter standing behind the detective.

"Cortnie," he said, his voice raw with emotion.

The girl stared up at him, her lower lip quivering. "Daddy?"

Sadie watched Matthew swing Cortnie up into his arms and hold her so tightly that she was sure he'd never let her go. Blinking back tears, she smiled when Sam slipped his warm hand in hers.

She'd never let go either.

epilogue

Sadie paced anxiously on the front porch of the townhouse. It had been ten days since she had shot and killed The Fog, and brought Sam and Cortnie home. Life was slowly returning to normal, although she knew it would never be quite the same.

Leah had rushed to the hospital as soon as she'd heard. It had been difficult and awkward at first, but Sadie realized that the past had its place. In the
past
. Right now, she desperately needed a friend, and Leah was her best friend, her soul sister, a piece of her heart.

Leah didn't recall much about the night she had slept with Philip. She'd been too drunk. However, she did remember that Sam had walked in on them. Philip had grabbed Sam by the arm and threatened that Sadie would leave if he ever said a word. That was why Sam had refused to speak. In a way, he had been held hostage by his own father—a more subtle version of Stockholm syndrome. Sadie was still working on forgiving Philip, but that would take time.

A horn blasted and she jumped.

Philip's Mercedes pulled up to the house, and the sight of an old woman driving it made her laugh. Ed was sitting beside Irma, a grim look on his face. In the back seat, Martha and Fergus looked serious and pale. Car doors slammed as everyone rushed from the vehicle.

Sadie waved. "You made it."

"Barely," Ed grumbled.

"Course we made it," Irma said. "You think I woulda missed driving
that
?" She nudged her head in the direction of the car.

Ed scowled. "My sister beat me to the driver's seat and refused to budge. We white-knuckled it the whole way."

Irma swatted his arm. "I wasn't driving
that
fast."

"As long as you made it safely," Sadie said, grinning.

She opened the front door and ushered them through to the backyard, where the others were waiting for Sam's belated birthday party to begin. Captured by the sight and sounds of sheer joy, she hovered in the doorway, watching her friends and family.

She glanced at the photo of Sam on the wall behind her.

It was difficult not to feel guilty. Her son had survived while the others had not. She slept restlessly, haunted by nightmares and the urge to check on Sam. She must have gotten up at least eight times last night. Each time, she hesitated at his door, fighting the fear that when she opened it, he'd be gone.

He wasn't gone…but he
was
different.

Sam was adapting to his missing finger and toe, and was mourning the loss of Joey, his imaginary friend. But he had other friends now, or so he told her. He often talked about them. Marina, Holland, and the others. He seemed oblivious to the fact that they were dead—had been dead all along. He told her that Cortnie couldn't see them. She thought Sam was making them up so she'd feel better, but she
had
seen the bodies. Sarge had made them sleep in the same room.

It was Sam who had watched Sarge enter the numerical code on the keypad that led to the stairs, to freedom. He had memorized the four digits. The night he and Cortnie had escaped, Sarge had fallen asleep in his chair after supper. They crept past him and headed into the woods with no particular destination in mind, until Sam remembered seeing the signs for Cadomin Cave.

The rest was history. Or as Sadie believed, fate.

The trauma Sam had endured left him severely depressed. During the first few days, he was almost a stranger to her, cringing when she touched or hugged him, jumping at every loud sound, and fearful of any man who came near. Victim Services had told her that his behavior was common for abduction survivors. They said it would take time, that she had to be patient.

Then there were the nightmares that would leave him writhing, screaming and sweating so badly that she had to move him into her bed. Even worse were the triggers. She'd taken him to McDonald's the other day and a teenager dressed as Ronald was there in full clown gear visiting the children. The instant Sam saw the clown he let out the most god-awful scream and started beating on Sadie with his fists until she took him out.

The doorbell rang, interrupting her thoughts.

"Nice house," Jay mumbled when she let him inside.

"It's a rental. For now." She hugged him, catching him off guard. "Thank you, Jay."

"Yeah, well…you're welcome."

She took a deep breath. "What's going to happen to me?"

"You'll be fine."

"But I killed—"

"It was self-defense, Sadie. No jury in their right mind would convict you."

There was an uneasy silence.

"I wanted to kill him," she whispered.

"I know."

She sighed. "What about the two extra…bodies?"

Jay looked as if he had swallowed something slimy. "His own kids. Ashley and Adam." At her shocked expression, he added, "The bastard dug them up. He couldn't let go of them."

Sadie's eyes fluttered shut. "And the boy in the car, the one I thought was Sam?"

"Holland Dawes. The boy Sarge took last year."

Blue Adam. The boy who spoke with a lisp and loved marshmallows.

Her eyes watered. "Poor Holland."

"He was dead long before the explosion, Sadie."

She nodded. "I know. He was drugged, right?"

"An overdose of sedatives. Like the others. They fell asleep and never woke up."

Sadie's heart ached for the children. For their parents.

"You know," Jay said uneasily. "I always wanted to ask you how you knew."

"Knew what?"

"That the man who took your son was in Cadomin."

She looked him in the eye. "Honestly? I didn't have a clue. I've always been a big believer in fate. I asked Sam to tell me where to stop, show me a sign."

"And what did he show you?"

"A crow, a sign about bat caves…I know that sounds hokey, but as soon as I saw them I just
knew
that's where I was supposed to go. It was fate."

"Fate." Jay tested the word on his tongue.

She glanced at Sam's photograph. "I've got to believe in something, otherwise none of this makes sense. I know what I saw, what I heard and felt. They were there. The children. I think their spirits were collectively strong enough to bring me there, show me signs, help me find them. And Sam."

"You gave them peace."

"So…what do we do now?" she asked.

Jay smiled. "That's easy. You go out there and spend time with your friends and family. And your son."

She crooked her head toward the door. "Why don't you join everyone outside? I'll be out in a minute."

"I, uh, wasn't planning on staying, Sadie. This is for family."

"That's just what you are," she said, taking his arm.

Smiling, she led the old detective out into the sun.

After everyone except Matthew and Cortnie had left, Sadie stood on the deck and peered around the side of the house to the street in front. For a second, she could have sworn she saw a man dressed in black watching her.

She shook her head and he dissolved into thin air.

One day you won't haunt me anymore.

It was a momentous task fighting the daily bouts of sadness, shame, fear and extreme rage that sometimes hit her at the most inopportune moments. She still dreamt of a scarred monster, of his hands touching her. She hadn't told a soul about that part—not even Leah.

It didn't take much to remind her of everything that had happened, and even the smallest thing, like seeing Sam's book, had an adverse affect on her mood. She decided to put Going Batty away, for now at least. One day, maybe, she'd get it published.

Sam waved at her. "Mom! Watch this!"

He rode his new bike, the one she had bought for his birthday a lifetime ago. Cortnie had set up two small pieces of wood, creating a jump, and he rode up one side, lifted a few inches into the air and landed with a soft thud.

Her gaze was captured by a slow-drifting mist that glided across the manmade lake beyond the back fence. Her smile faded ever so slightly as she recalled the bizarre fog that had haunted the woods near Infinity Cabin.

The fog…and the children.

There was no logical explanation for it. For
any
of it. Over the past days she had come to accept all that had happened as an act of God. Or Fate. There was no doubt in her mind that Sam had been a conduit for the spirits of the dead children, that he had helped them reach out to her. And he had reached out on his own too. That's why she'd
seen
him everywhere. He had sent the crow to her, knowing she would think of bats and the cave…eventually.

Jay was right. The children had been bound to this world by unfinished business, by bodies that needed to be buried and loved ones who needed closure. And maybe by vengeance and the need to see Sarge brought to justice. They couldn't tell her who they were because they were sworn to secrecy, and even in death, they were held captive by their promise to a madman.

Sam tugged on her sleeve. "Mom, are you listening to me?"

Sadie patted his hair. It was growing so quickly. "I'll always hear you, little man."

"Aw, Mom," he said, scowling. "Don't call me that."

She hugged him close. When he pulled back, he traced the first half of an infinity symbol over her heart. "S is for Sam."

She added the reflecting half. "S is for—"

"Sadie," he interrupted. "Sadie and Sam for all eternity."

With a loud whoop, he jumped on his bike and sped away.

As she watched him, she wiped away a stray tear.

"You all right?" Matthew asked, joining her on the deck.

She smiled. "I am now."

Unexpectedly, he slipped his warm hand in hers. "Thank you," he whispered.

Lost in overwhelming emotions, they watched Sam and Cortnie for a long time, thanking the universe that fate had intervened and their children had been brought back to them, alive. They were the lucky ones.

The fate of the other children weighed heavily on her heart. They had not been as lucky and neither were their parents. Except that now they had closure. That had to count for something.

"Mom!" Sam shouted.

She shook away the gloomy clouds. "What, honey?"

"Listen to what Marina taught me. One fine day in the middle of the night…"