Different (13 page)

"How is it that I can feel, taste and smell?"

"Your spirit has been invited here on the sacred ground of my people. You are possessed with great powers, Jay. You are the daughter of the chosen-ones."

"I don't understand, am I really in America?"

"You sure are. You're in the state of Montana, that's the Bitterfoot Forest you can see down below us.” He poked the fire with a stick until sparks rose into the night sky before speaking again. “Your parents were special, Jay. A British scientist who was trying to enable them to regenerate missing limbs genetically modified them. What he didn't figure on doing was triggering the next stage in human evolution and increasing their intelligence and IQ so that it disappeared right off the scale. But that's what happened. Ben and Eve, your parents, were unique except for Adam, the third and youngest child. He was the most powerful of the three of them, and you have powers as great as his. Your healing power is the least of your abilities though, but of course you're not aware of them because some of your memories have been suppressed."

Jay was confused, but at the same time she was excited and wanted to know more about her parents, Ben and Eve. Then she remembered what Grandma Anna had said. “Grandma said there was a girl who had laid an egg and she was shot by an American. Was she my mother, Eve? Am I some kind of freak who came out of an egg that she laid?"

Silver Fox smiled at her and shook his head. “That was Eve, your mother all right, but you were born just the same as every other child has been born since time began. The egg and the embryo inside it were a subterfuge, artificial. The idea was to keep you a secret from the doctor and the others, to let them take the egg instead."

"But they would have known it wasn't real..."

"No they wouldn't. People who're many stages up the evolution ladder than even you, made the egg. The egg and the embryo were designed to self destruct, but in a natural looking way, after being exposed to prolonged periods of bright light."

"Are you like me? Is that why you're involved in all this?"

"I guess so, but I've not evolved to your level. I never met Eve, or Ben, but Adam and I became good friends before he disappeared.” He must have seen her puzzled look and explained. “Adam used to visit me just like you are here with me now. It was an out of body experience but he thought of our visits as a dream. Well, I suppose that as he was only eight-years-old when he first came to see me, dreaming was a logical explanation for him. Later it seemed he was always here, and the last time he came, he'd just turned seventeen, he told me about you, Jay, Eve and Ben's baby girl and asked me to look out for you. I picked up on your distress tonight as clear as a wolf howling in the woods."

"He called me, Jay? He knew me? I'm all mixed up, Silver Fox. I didn't ask to be different and I'm not sure that I want to be, either."

"I know. I sometimes wonder if it's a gift that's been laid upon our shoulders because we weren't quick enough, or too stupid to move out of the way.” He sighed “I was about your age when I found out about my own powers, an awesome thing for a teenager—power. Like you, I too was confused and wanted to run a way that's why I sent the dog and the eagle to guide you to me. My own teacher sent me a silver fox and an owl. That's how I got my Shaman's name. I don't suppose you want to be called. Dog? No, I didn't think you'd go for that. Ok, then let's get down to business."

"I'm scared, Silver Fox. I mean what can I do? Why can't whoever picked me, pick someone else. I just want to go home and be normal, you know?"

"I know. Believe me, Jay. I know,” he sounded sad for her and yet his eyes twinkled with amusement.

"What's funny?” she asked.

"Well, you sounded just like me when I was a kid and you haven't realised yet."

"Realised what?"

"Well, here you are thousands of miles from home and talking to me while your body's back home lying on a bed. How'd you like to see your folk's?"

"My grandparents? But how can I..."

"Put this on, Jay. It will protect you from any spirits that might ambush you while you're using your Astral body.” He handed her a leather band, hanging from it was a silver and jade miniature shield. It was a beautifully worked pendant and she fastened it around her neck so the shield hung from her throat.

"Thanks, Silver Fox. Now, how do I get to see my grandparents?"

"First off, you need to know some of your powers. We too can enter the bodies of other people, in fact most critters. This can be useful, if you need to perform a physical act sometimes. But if that body's destroyed while we're in there then we're destroyed too and our own bodies will die. It would be pretty damned stupid to enter the body of a mouse only to be eaten by the cat. Secondly, we can use the body to do pretty well as we like but we must never abuse it or we risk damaging that body's soul. It's usually best to enter someone who's sleeping and then leave before they wake up."

"You! You were inside Wind Rider!"

"Yep! Well, I am an Indian and you'd better believe that we can be pretty damned sneaky sometimes. Now listen, I'm not going with you on this trip but I'll be able to see and hear you although your folk's won't. To go to your folks just picture them in your mind and when you want to return here just do the same. Go now."

Jay concentrated on her Grandma Anna, in her mind she saw Anna, with her head cocked to one side in that peculiar way of hers, smiling at her.

Jay was flying! She sped over the ocean and then over the man made lights of the towns and cities below her. Then she was sweeping down and she recognised the motel where they were staying. She saw the blue flashing lights of an ambulance and a police car. The police were keeping the reporters away from the ambulance parked outside the reception area. The doors opened and two paramedics came out carrying a stretcher upon which, despite the oxygen mask clamped over her face, Jay recognised, her grandma Anna.

Tom, his face ashen and etched in concern, was hurrying along beside the stretcher holding Anna's hand and talking to her. “You'll be all right, love,” he said, over and over again, but Jay could hear the doubt in his voice.

She tried calling to her grandfather to make her presence known, but Tom remained oblivious of her. He followed the Anna onto the ambulance and the rear doors slammed shut. Jay was about to join them when she heard Silver Fox's voice inside her head.

"You must return to your body and then go to them. Maybe you can use your healing powers to help her."

His calming voice stilled her panic and she visualised her body lying on the cot. Immediately, she was moving again swooping over rooftops and then plunging down towards the cabin. She swept into her body and sat up. The dog licked her hand in welcome. Swinging her legs off the bed, she grabbed her bag. “Come on, dog,” she said, “We have to get to the hospital."

Jay rang the number on the card Cassie had given her and the reporter answered almost immediately.

"Where are you?” She asked when Jay identified herself, and Jay told her where she was. “Stay there and I'll get a taxi to pick you up and bring you to the hospital. It will be quicker than me coming to pick you up."

"Is my grandmother going to be ok?” Jay asked and steeled herself for the answer.

"She's in intensive care,” Cassie said. “She's had a massive heart attack. Your granddad is with her now. I'll get that taxi organised and meet you by the main entrance.” When Cassie disconnected the call and Jay suddenly felt very much alone.

Jay was aware of the taxi driver studying her in his rear-view mirror. She had seen the recognition in his eyes when he'd picked her and the dog up. She shut him out of her mind and prayed Anna would be all right, and as though in sympathy the dog licked her hand.
The dog?
She couldn't just call it the dog; she needed to give it a name. He wore a collar, but there was nothing engraved on the small brass plate fixed to it. She knew, as she searched her imagination for a suitable name for the dog, she was trying to divert her mind from worrying about her grandmother.

He looks like a Labrador
, she thought,
like the one in the film version of the Odyssey
.

"Troy,” she said, and he wagged his tail in approval.

They arrived at the hospital and the taxi pulled up outside the accident and emergency block. Cassie and Ben were waiting for her outside the main entrance.

Jay flung open the door and Cassie came to meet her, while Ben paid the taxi driver. One look at Cassie's face verified Jay's deepest fear.

"I'm sorry, Jay,” Cassie said. “Your grandmother passed away a few minutes ago."

"Oh, please no!” Jay cried. But through eyes suddenly stinging with tears she saw the pain etched on Cassie's face. Jay had to get to Anna. She had to get to her Grandma. Perhaps she could heal her, like she had healed David and Sophie. She tried to rush past Cassie but the older woman caught her in an embrace and touched Jay's brow with her lips.

"No, Jay wait,” she whispered gently. “There's nothing you can do. Your Grandmother's gone. Your Grandfather is still with Anna, talking to her and saying his goodbyes. So give him a little more time alone with her, before you go in."

A great sob burst from Jay's throat and feeling that her heart would burst, she rested her on Cassie's shoulder and gave in to her grief.

She was vaguely aware of Cassie comforting her and Ben's gruff words of condolence but she was even more aware of the fact that she was to blame for her Grandmother's death.
If I hadn't been born some kind of freak
...

"Don't you go thinking such nonsense ever again, Jay!” Silver Fox's voice thundered in her mind. “Your Grandmother's heart attack was not your doing. It was her time to go on, that's all. Everyone dies, even as we will, but our spirits will live on and don't you ever forget that. Death is just the price we have to pay to enter the world of the spirits, that's all."

Troy whined and then gave a gruff bark of welcome.

Jay stiffened and stared over Cassie's shoulder in shock. Her grandfather was standing behind Cassie and absently stroking the dog's head. He seemed to have suddenly grown very old and frail. His broad shoulder sagged and he seemed bowed as though weighed down with the weight of his sorrow.

She pulled herself out of Cassie's arms and ran into his.

He hugged her in what felt almost like a hug of desperation. “Anna's dead, Jay,” he said. “It was her heart..."

"I know,” Jay sobbed. “I want to see her, Granddad."

He smiled through his tears, “I'll take you to her in a minute, love,” he said. “They're moving her to the hospital chapel, now and I'll be staying with her until the funeral directors arrive. You'd best ring Mary and ask if you can stay the night at her house. I intend to take Anna back home to be buried, Jay. Back home to where she belongs in Catherstone Village."

"She's the image of Eve,” Janine said, pointing to the photograph on the TV screen. “That girl, Jay Williams, is her daughter all right, Russell. How the hell did she get out of the swamp?”

"I wish I knew and I'd also like to know how she managed to escape from the Devil's Footprint. She was only about eighteen-months-old, for Pete's sake.”

"You were right though. We need to find her quickly and before anyone else does,” Janine said. “But are you sure you can kill her yourself, without getting caught?” She didn't like the idea of him taking the risk and had tried to persuade him to hire a professional to do the hit.

"I've already said I'll take her out personally this time. Hey, stop worrying, Janine, because I know what I'm doing. I used to earn a living by taking people out."

"You mean when you were The Death Dancer? That was years ago and..."

"I haven't lost my touch, believe me. Now the question is, as the guy on television just said, where is Jay Williams now?"

"My guess is that she'll not stray to far away from her so called grandparents. It might be an idea to stick close to them and see if the girl makes contact."

Russell nodded and rose to his feet. “I'll get over to the airport and hire a chopper to fly me to Wales. When Jay Williams surfaces, I'll be waiting for her and freak or not ... this time she's dead!"

He checked into the Beefeater Hotel on the outskirts of Conway, unpacked his bag and checked out his equipment. His brown curly wig and the cheek pads would ensure that no one would be able to identify him again if they saw him without them. He favoured thin, black kidskin gloves to the rubber surgical gloves favoured by other professional assassins, and a knife or his small Beretta pistol to a heavier calibre handgun. After loading the pistol's magazine, he screwed its silencer onto the muzzle. Russell changed into black clothes and rubber soled shoes. Satisfied, locking the door of his room behind him, Russell went down to the restaurant. The restaurant was surprisingly busy and the barman told him that they stopped taking orders for food at midnight.

He'd ordered a steak and fries when his mobile rang. It was Janine.

"Russell, the girl's grandmother's had a stroke or something and she's been taken to a hospital in Colwyn Bay. Apparently the girl was with them but ran off when the press appeared, about half-an-hour before the old lady collapsed."

Russell rose to his feet and dropped a twenty-pound-note onto the table. “I'm on my way,” he said.

Ten-minutes later, and wearing his disguise, Russell was speeding as fast as he dared, without risking being stopped, towards Colwyn Bay. He'd arranged for a car rental company to have a BMW with a full tank of fuel to be waiting for him at the airport.

Alex took another sip from the bottle of whisky he'd taken from the drinks cupboard in Carl's house, and tried to work out what to do about Mary Slymond. He'd seen Julie off on the bus before nicking this car, which he'd parked in the shadow of a copse of trees opposite Mary's house.
It was her fault Carl had gone chicken, because somehow she'd made the moron go soft on her. He'd changed, he just wasn't the same bloke anymore, and it was all down to her, the Bitch!