Fort Morgan (35 page)

A moment later, the door opened. Seth gave
Delphie a wry look and stepped back.

“
You’re so judgmental,”
Delphie said. Her tone held the chiding quality of an elder
sister.

“
Yes, Mom,” Seth
said.

Delphie chuckled. She held out her arm, and
they gave each other an awkward hug.

“
I’m sorry about Mitch,”
Delphie said.

“
Me, too,” Seth said. “He
wants. . .”

“
I know,” Delphie
said.

“
I wanted to ask
you. . .” Seth started.

Seth touched Delphie’s arm, and they stopped
walking. She turned to look at him. For the briefest moment, she
had the feeling as if they’d done this very thing before.

“
If you don’t get an
impression for Sissy or for Charlie, could you just tell him that
everything works out? He doesn’t have long and. . .” Seth
finished with a nod. His face was etched with sorrow.

“
Of course,” Delphie said.
“If it’s any consolation, I can tell you that Mitch leaves this
world in a
very happy
place.”

“
He’s going to Thailand?”
Seth asked.

Delphie smiled.

“
He will not allow himself
to let go until he has manipulated the children’s futures to his
liking,” Delphie said. “Including your daughter, Sandy.”

“
He’s very ill,” Seth
said. “Can he do that?”

Delphie nodded. They continued past the
kitchen and formal dining room to a small bedroom next to the
stairs. Seth opened the door for Delphie, and she stepped
through.

Her first impression was
of illness and death. Mitch Delgado was sitting in a hospital bed
attached to machines. IV fluids were dripping into his veins. An
oxygen tank pumped air into the nose cannula. The glazed look in
his eyes indicated that he had taken a variety of medications to
help him through this interaction. Sick as he was, Mitch Delgado
was the best he’d
been
in a long time.

Her second impression was of the small child
sitting on Mitch’s bed, drawing a picture and talking at the same
time. The child was a girl just under the age of three. The girl
was mature for her age and smart. The child had come as a surprise
to her mother. The girl and her father were very close.

Maresol got up from a chair near the bed and
gave Delphie a hug.

“
Thank you for coming,”
Maresol said.

“
Mitch?” Seth
asked.

Mitch touched the girl to get her to stop
talking. The child turned to look at Seth and Delphie.

“
Mitzi,” Delphie said
under her breath.

“
Don’t call me that!” the
child
said
in a
loud
,
indignant
voice.

“
I’m sorry,” Delphie said.
“‘Sissy,’ isn’t it?”

The child nodded.

“
I’ve heard so much about
you,” Delphie said.

“
Who talked about me?” the
child asked at the same moment Seth said, “Mitch? I’d like to
introduce you to Delphinium.”

“
Like the flower?” Mitch’s
eyebrows shot up in
judgment
. He pointed the child back to
her coloring. She smiled at him and started coloring her page
again.

“
My birth name was lost to
me,” Delphie said. “I picked this one. I go by Delphie.”

“
It certainly suits you,”
Mitch said in a tone that was laced with his sense that she was a
flake.

Delphie gave the
man
a wide
smile. Embarrassed at being caught in his own judgment, he
blushed and cleared his throat. Seth gave him
a strong
look.

“
Thank you for coming,”
Mitch said, finally.

“
How can I help?” Delphie
asked.

“
I need to know what
happens to my children,” Mitch said. “Sandy, Charlie, and
Sissy.”

Delphie nodded. Mitch didn’t respond.
Silence hung in the room like a shroud. Sissy looked up from her
coloring.

“
I think he’s wondering
what he needs to do,” Seth said.

“
Do?” Delphie asked. “Oh.
Nothing.”

“
Nothing?” Mitch asked.
“How. . .?”

“
What is it that you’d
like to know?” Delphie asked.

Delphie’s question cut him off. Unused to
being interrupted, Mitch scowled.

“
I need to know what
happens to my children,” Mitch repeated. “Sandy, Charlie, and
Sissy.”

“
No
,
you don’t,” Delphie said.

“
I think he means that he
wants to know,” Seth said.

“
He doesn’t want that,
either,” Delphie said.

“
I do, too!” Mitch
said.

“
No,
you don’t,” Delphie said with a shake of her
head.

“
How dare you!” Mitch
said. “You come in here and waste my. . .”

“
You’re the one who’s
wasting time,” Delphie said.

“
I think
he. . .” Maresol said in a soft voice.

“
No,” Delphie said. “He
doesn’t want to know about Sandy because he knows that Sandy is
best friends with Jill. He knows with friends like Jill, Heather,
and Tanesha, Sandy will thrive. He’s said this very thing in this
room not two days ago.”

Mitch gawked at Delphie. Seth started to
softly chuckle.

“
Plus, he’s in the process
of purchasing her a condo,” Delphie said with a nod.
“He knows that all Sandy needs is to cast
deep roots in a safe place.
The condo will
do that. Plus, she’ll always have somewhere to live. Isn’t that
right?”

Mitch glared at her for a moment before
crossing his arms and looking away.

“
He’s not concerned about
Charlie because Charlie will always land on his feet,” Delphie
said. “Charlie is smart, handsome, and charming. You know that he
will struggle, as you have struggled. But that’s been the fun in
your life. Charlie, like you, is a natural leader. If Charlie
falters, Sandy will be there to help him. You’re not worried about
him at all.”

Mitch scowled at Delphie.

“
Plus, you’ve already
arranged for Seth to hold partial custody of your children in case
they need his support,” Delphie said. “And you know that Seth will
spare no expense to care for your
children
.”

Delphie gave Seth a level look.

“
You’re willing to help
and support Charlie and Sissy, as well as your own daughter,
Sandy?” Delphie asked.

“
How did you know about
Sandy?” Mitch asked at the same moment Seth gave a simple, “Of
course.”

“
Nobody knows about
Sandy.” Mitch’s voice rose. He looked at Maresol. “You told
her.”

“
No, Mitchell.” Maresol
shook her head.

“
Sandy is
my
daughter,” Mitch
said. “And I am her dad. Period. You get that through your flakey
head.”

“
Mitch!” Seth said. “You
promised not to do this.”

“
I won’t be bamboozled
by. . .” Mitch said and started coughing. He gestured to
Delphie.

Delphie smiled.

“
I’m so sorry, Delphie!”
Maresol said. “He’s. . .”

“
There’s nothing to be
sorry for,” Delphie said. “When he’s done freaking out, we’ll get
started.”

“
With what?” Mitch asked.
“I’m not doing shit with you!”

Delphie grinned.

“
Why is that funny?” Mitch
asked.

Delphie pointed to the child. She was
watching all the action with rapt attention.

“
Why is that funny?” Mitch
asked again.

“
Show him the picture,”
Delphie said to the child.

She nodded and gave the
crayon picture to Mitch. He looked at the image for a moment and
then turned it around so Seth could see it. The child had
drawn
an image of
Mitch and Delphie with their arms around each
other walking up a big mountain.

“
What does it mean?” Mitch
asked.

“
She’s going to help you
with your journey,” the child said.

“
My journey?” Mitch
asked.

“
You know. . .”
the child gave him such a sincere look that his eyes welled with
tears. “She’ll go with you so you won’t get lost. She’ll make sure
you don’t have to go alone.”

Mitch was so surprised that he just blinked.
He stared at the picture and then looked at Delphie. He shook his
head.

“
You can do that?” Mitch
asked.

“
I’ve done it before,”
Delphie said with a nod.

“
Do you talk
to. . . um. . .” Mitch finished his question
with a nod.

“
Yes,” Delphie said. “I
will help you interact after you’ve transitioned. I can help you
communicate with your family and keep track of the
children.”

Mitch grunted a kind of sigh. He looked away
while tears fell from his eyes.

“
Why don’t I give you a
minute?” Delphie asked. “Maresol, might I trouble you for some
tea?”

Maresol moved toward Delphie as Seth went to
Mitch’s side. The child lay on top of her father with her head over
his heart. Delphie took one last look at Mitch before leaving with
Maresol.

~~~~~~~~

“
That was me?” Sissy
croaked.

“
You are an amazing girl,”
Delphie said.

“
You and Dad were really
close,” Sandy said. “You don’t remember?”

Sissy shook her head.

“
You’re a little less than
three years old there, so it makes sense you might not remember,”
Sandy said.

Sissy sniffed back a tear.

“
It’s been a half hour,”
Abi said. “Should we stop?”

“
Noooo!” Sissy
wheezed.

Sandy and Delphie looked at each other for a
moment.

“
How about this?” Delphie
asked with a nod. “There isn’t a lot left from that day at Seth’s.
Why don’t we go through it? Abi can pick up Ivan’s story from him
when he comes later. We can weave his story with Seth’s and go
through the whole thing when Ivan’s working.”

“
That sounds like a good
plan!” Abi said.

“
I like it,” Sandy said.
“Sissy?”

Sissy nodded.

“
You want to start us
off?” Abi asked Delphie.

“
Sure,” Delphie said.
“Maresol and I made tea. When we returned to Mitch’s room, Seth had
taken Sissy away. Maresol fussed over Mitch for a while before
leaving, too. I spent the rest of the day with Mitch. We talked
about his life. I gave him perspectives on certain events
that
happened, including
his relationship with your mom, Sissy. After he
was sure that I understood him, he asked what he’d wanted to
know.”

~~~~~~~~

“
How do you do it?” Mitch
asked Delphie.

He was sitting up in bed. Delphie sat in a
chair next to his hospital bed. There was a small folding table in
front of her with her old deck of Tarot cards. Delphie looked up
and scowled.

“
Do what?” Delphie
asked.

“
Do those cards make it
happen?” Mitch asked.

Delphie held up the deck of Tarot cards in
question. She blinked and realized what he was asking.

“
The cards give images to
my thoughts,” Delphie said. “They help me to pick out the most
important thoughts in a field of ideas. They are tools which
reflect my intuition.”

“
Are they always right?”
Mitch asked.

“
They are a line of
communication,” Delphie said. “Most of the time, they reflect
what’s happening now. Every once in a great while, I have no idea
what they’re talking about.”

“
Like any conversation,”
Mitch said with a snort.

“
Exactly,” Delphie said
with a nod.

She laid out three cards.

“
So that’s how you do it?”
Mitch asked.

“
Are you asking me how I
am able to know things?” Delphie asked.

“
Yes,” Mitch nodded. “I
mean, I’m pretty intuitive. O’Malley’s
really good
, much better than I
am. And that music thing? He connects into something way beyond
this world. Our intuition made us great detectives and kept us
alive in ’Nam. But we’re not like this.”

Delphie nodded.

“
How do you do it?” Mitch
asked.

“
It’s who I am,” Delphie
said with a shrug. “In the ancient times, people like me were
called ‘Oracles.’ We’re kind of a species of our own.”

“
O’Malley’s dad went to an
Oracle,” Mitch said. “Oracle Tabor.”

Delphie swallowed hard and nodded.

“
He was upset because the
boy played the piano all day,” Mitch said. “She told him that
O’Malley had a rare gift. She encouraged him to send O’Malley to
school in New York. O’Malley hates that Oracle Tabor.”

Delphie didn’t say anything. She looked down
at the cards in front of her.