Dirt (The Dirt Trilogy) (19 page)

As the sun hides behind the distant mountains, Taylie pulls into
the driveway. It’s
time
for
digging. She
brings
some of
her
brother’s clothes for Coll and Rowen. They quickly change and
we’re off again to play in the dirt.

Darkness falls on us quickly. We dig around the edges of our
rather large yard a couple of feet into the ground and the sensation
comes over me again. Eyes are watching me. I can feel it. I quit my
pathetic effort at shoveling and walk toward the forest. A voice in
my head calls me, beckoning me.

“
I’ll be back in a minute,” I say.
“Where are you going, Ashe?” Rowen asks.
I don’t answer. I keep walking, robotically without my own

intention.
“AAshee LLeighh, AAshee LLeighh,” the voice calls, the
words drawn out in a ghostly tone of endless sound. Nothing
around me matters. I only want to follow the voice. “AAshhhe
LLeighhh FFFairrrrr,” it continues.
“What are you doing?” Rowen has me by both arms shaking
me gently.
“What?” I feel as if I’ve been sleep walking. “Don’t you hear
it?”
“I don’t hear anything.” He looks at me as if I’ve lost my mind.
“We’re in the middle of nowhere. You took off. Are you alright?”
“I thought I heard someone calling me,” I say as I try to figure
out what’s happened.
“Come back. We’ve found some more serum. A few more jars.
We’ve got to get back.”
Taylie sits on the ground by Coll being her usual loquacious
self. The vacant look on Coll’s face is priceless.
“Hey guys, while you’re all here, there is a concert over at the
college tonight. No one will recognize you there. And it’ll be dark.”
“What is a concert?” Coll asks.
“You’re not serious?”
“Taylie, you’ve got to remember he’s not from here. And when
I say here, I mean earth.” Rowen laughs a little.
Okay, well it’s where people sit and listen to music. It’s a lot of
fun. We ought to go.”
“We can’t really leave. Someone’s got to stay here and watch
the muck.”
“Coll, you should go with her and get a taste of human life,”
Rowen adds.“Ashe and I will be fine.”
“Alright, I guess I’m in,” Coll says. He still has that deer-inheadlights look.
When we arrive back at the house, I’m so gladI’ll have Rowen
all to myself. The three of us drink our share of muck. There are
only a couple of jars left so we are going to have to guard it with
our lives.
It’s cold outside. We bury the serum, pitch a tent over the
mound, and start a fire. We’ll have to share a sleeping bag to stay
warm. We can only find one. I have to admit I didn’t look very hard
for a second one. This is going to be the perfect night.
Taylie and Coll come out to the tent before leaving. Taylie
looks beautiful as always. Her jeans fit perfectly and her hair is
curled to perfection.
“I won’t keep him out too long. It’s going to be super cold
tonight.” She takes hold of Coll’s hand and pulls him to the car. His
lost expression makes him look less like a sentry and more human
than he would have wanted to admit.
“Coll has no idea what he’s getting into,” Rowen chuckles.
“What do you mean?” I pop him on the arm.
“What?” he says innocently. “If he’s as lucky as I am, he won’t
ever look back,” and he kisses me long, and as soft as ever as I
wrap my arms around him pulling his shirt off from behind. Then I
know it’s about to happen. Everything about me feels wonderfully
different. I give in completely. I don’t know what I’m doing and
neither does he, but I’m more comfortable than I’ve ever been. Our
breathing is heavy, moving in rhythm as our passion intensifies.
Then ...the phone rings. I brought the cordless outside into the
tent and now I wish I hadn’t. I try to ignore it.
“Answer it,” Rowen says.
“They’ll call back.”
“Answer it.”
Caller ID indicates it’s Taylie. “Great. Perfect timing, Taylie.”
“Slow down. Taylie, what’s wrong!” I can’t understand what
she’s saying behind the hysterics.
For a split second, I wonder what in the world Coll has done.
She’s crying hysterically. The voice on the phone changes.
“Taylie? Taylie?”
“Let me talk to Rowen.” It’s Coll.
“What happened? What have you done to her?” I could feel
heat building up in my hand and the smell of burning plastic eases
into the air.
“Ashe, let me talk to Rowen.” His tone is forceful. I hear
Taylie screaming in the background. My agitation is about to melt
the phone so I hand it over to Rowen.
“Straif,” Rowen says.
“What is it?” When Straif’s name comes up, the tension in my
head begins to mount.
“Are you going there with her?” He pauses. “We’ll be here.
Take care of her and be safe. Keep us updated on things.”
“What is it?” I knew something was terribly wrong when I
heard Straif’s name.
“There’s been an accident. Well, not an accident exactly.” I
stare at him. “Taylie’s house has burnt down. Her entire family.”
He chokes up, his face falling.
“What? Tell me.”
“Taylie’s parents, her brother. They’re dead. Straif, it has to be
at his hand.”
“Oh my God! Taylie! I’ve got to be there for her.”
“You can’t. It will make things worse, much worse. Coll is
with her.”
“He hates humans. She needs me, Rowen.”
“That’s exactly what Straif wants. We have to stay here.”
I’m sick to my stomach. Things have gone much too far. We
wait in the tent, watching over the muck as we try to keep the fire
going. At this point it’s all we can do.
We don’t hear back from Coll until hours later. They’re headed
back. The sun creeps through the gold and red tree branches. The
evergreens remain brilliant, but I’m no longer a part of this place.
I’m disconnected somehow, separated from my true self. I miss
Durt and that’s something I didn’t think I would ever say.
The car pulls in and Coll’s driving. He barely misses a tree. I
think he’s going to give Taylie whiplash. She’s a mess. Coll and I
help her out of the car. She has makeup smeared down her face.
She’s still crying, but the tears have dried up. We lead her to the
couch. “Taylie, I’m so sorry.”
I hold her hands as she sobs and I try to think of the most
calming moments in my life. Thoughts of painting and drawing
merge through my mind. I envision each stroke and through my
transference, Taylie starts to calm down.
“Ashe, I heard the police talking. They’re looking for Rowen.
They think he’s behind all of this.”
“I’m gonna move your car to the back of the house to be on the
safe side,” I say. When I come back inside she’s weeping again. I
hold her in my arms. “I’m so sorry.”
“It has to be Straif,” Coll insists.
“I’ll kill him. He’ll stop at nothing and neither will I.” Rowen
is beyond anger.
“My aunt is coming down tomorrow to try and plan everything.
I can’t believe they’re really gone.” She begins to sob again. “And
then I have
to get some clothes, something to wear to
their
funerals.”

As I wake up the morning after, I realize the tragedy of
yesterday. How I wished it was only a nightmare. Taylie is still
asleep. Rowen and Coll are outside guarding our last bit of muck
that will only last a couple more days. And I hear the voice again,
“AAshee
LLLeighhhh
FFFairrrrr,
AAshhhhhee
LLLeighhhh
FFFairrrr.” The faint sound drives me crazy as it beckons. Am I
losing my mind? Rowen brings in a jar of muck, and I prepare a
glass for each of us.

“
How’s she doing?”
“Better than expected.”
“We need to help her out. She’s lost everything.”
“Come on,” Rowen tells me.
We go into the master bedroom. Right behind the dresser is a

wall safe. He opens it and pulls out five hundred dollars in twenties.
There were several stacks of money remaining.“Tell her to get
what she needs.” I look at him with confusion. “What?” he asks.

Birches
’ stash.
“They’re leprechauns. I guess this is their pot of gold.”
I hand the money to Taylie. “I can’t take this,” and she pushes

it away.
“Yes, yes, you can. You have to.” She looks down at the cash.
“Tell Rowen thanks.” Reluctantly, she shoves it into her back
pocket.
“I want you to go with me.”
“You know I can’t leave. It’s too risky.”
“If you change your hair and put on a cap, or something,
sunglasses, no one will know you. Ashe, I can’t do this by myself.”
I told Rowen I’m going with her. “I know she doesn’t need to
be alone, but we can’t risk it,” he says as he pours me my daily dose
of muck.
“I can’t let her be alone, not at a time like this. It’s my fault this
happened. Straif would have never come here if it weren’t for me.
Her family is dead because of me.” The guilt is overwhelming. I’m
losing it as my hands tremble. The glass of muck in my hand
shatters cutting my palm. Blood pours out.
“What happened?” Coll rushes in after the glass hits the floor.
Rowen wraps my hand up with a towel, but there are still shards of
glass in my palm. I shout as he pulls the towel tighter in an attempt
to stop the bleeding.
“Ashe wants to go with Taylie, but we can’t take the risk of her
being seen.”
“Where is she going?” Coll questions.
“She’s lost everything. Ouch,” I mutter as Rowen applies more
pressure. Drops of red crimson rain on the floor. “She needs
clothes, something to wear to the funeral.”
“I’ll go with her,” Coll volunteers. Rowen and I look at him
simultaneously as if something else came out of his mouth.
“Don’t be so surprised, Ashe. I’m not as mean as you think I
am and besides, no one here knows me. It’s the only obvious
choice. And she shouldn’t be alone at a time like this.”
“Stop!” I yell as Rowen continues with his poor attempt at
first-aid.
“Here let me handle this. You are so accident prone.” Coll
places my hand in the sink and turns on the cold water running it
over my open bleeding wound. Holding my lacerated hand in the
palm of his, slowly, the glass pieces emerged out of the tissue
clinking as they fall into the porcelain sink and the open skin begins
to close.
As the wound is healed, Taylie comes into the kitchen and sees
Rowen wiping up the blood off the floor. “Oh my God. What
happened?” Fear and doubt surround her eyes.
“Ashe cut her hand.”
She walks over to the sink and inspects my hand. “Where? I
don’t see a cut.” She peers at Coll with apprehension.
“All better now,” I say trying to down-play the situation.
“But there’s blood everywhere.”
“There’s something more we haven’t told you.”
“What?” She trembles as she backs away.
“Calm down. It’s not a bad thing.”
“Coll. Well, he’s a healer.”
“A doctor?”
“He’s not like one of our doctors. It’s a gift.” I explain as she
walks over to inspect my hand.
“Coll is going to go with you today. It’s not safe for me to
leave. But you know I would go if I could.”
“Are you sure you are up for this?” Taylie asks raising her
eyebrows at Coll.
“I’m up for anything. You don’t need to be alone. Not now.”
His tone is without sarcasm.
I am not sure how I’m going to make it happen, but I’m going
to be at that funeral.