A Knight Of The Word

“Nice to meet you, too,” Della said, and smiled now. “I work intake here at the center. Been at it from the start. How do you know John? Isn’t anyone ever came in before that knows John. I was beginning to think he didn’t have a life before he came here. I was beginning to think he was one of those pod people.” She laughed.

Nest grinned. “Well, I don’t know him very well. He was a friend of my mother’s.” She shaded the truth deliberately, unwilling to give anything away she didn’t have to. “I was in town, and I thought I ought to stop in and say hello.”

Della nodded. “Well, how about that? John was a friend of your mother’s. John doesn’t talk much about his past life with us. Hardly at all. A friend of your mother’s. How about that.” She seemed amazed. Nest blushed. “Oh, now, don’t you be embarrassed, Nest. I’m just making conversation to hide my surprise at anybody knowing John from before him corning here. You know, really, he spends all his time with Stef that’s Stefanie Winslow, his... oh, what do you call it, I always forget? Oh, that’s right, his ‘significant other.’ Sounds so awkward, saying it like that, doesn’t it? His ‘significant other.’ Anyway, that’s what Stefanie is. Real pretty girl, his sweetheart. Do anything for him. They came here together about a year ago, and neither one of them talks hardly at all about what went on before.”

Nest nodded, distracted. The uneasiness vas stealing over her again, a persistent tugging that refused to be ignored. She couldn’t understand where it was coming from. She had never experienced anything like it.

Della stood up abruptly. “You want a cup of coffee while you wait, Nest? Tell you what. Why don’t you come with me, and I’ll introduce you to a few of the people who work here, some of John’s friends, let them catch you up on what he’s been doing? He’s downtown at the Seattle Art Museum checking things out for tomorrow night. Big dedication party. Simon’s giving a speech John wrote, thanking the city and so forth for the building, their support and all. You probably don't know about that, but John can fill you in later. C’mon, young lady, right this way,”

She led Nest around the intake desk and down the hallway toward the elevator. Nest followed reluctantly, still trying to sort out the reason for her discomfort. Was Ariel responsible? Was the tatterdemalion trying to communicate with her in some way?

As they reached the elevator doors, a tall, lean, mostly balding black man walked through a doorway from further down the hall and came toward them.

“Ray!” Della Jerkins called out to him at once, “Come over here and meet Nest Freemark. Nest is an old friend of John’s, come by to say hello.”

The black man strolled up, grinning broadly. “We talking about John Ross, the man with no past? I didn’t think he had any old friends. Does he know about this, Nest, about you being his old friend? Or are you here to surprise him with the news?”

He held out his hand and Nest took it. “Ray Hapgood,” he introduced himself. “Very pleased to meet you, and welcome to Seattle.”

“Ray, you take Nest on down and get her some coffee, will you? Introduce her to Stef and Carole and whoever, and keep her company until John gets back,” Della was already looking over her shoulder at the lobby entrance as the elevator doors opened. “I got to get back out front and keep an eye on things. Go on now.”

She gave Nest a smile and a wave and walked away. The doors closed, leaving Nest alone with Ray Hapgood.

“What brings you to Seattle, Nest?” he asked, smiling.

She hesitated. “I was thinking of transferring schools,” she said, inventing a lie to suit the situation.

He nodded. “Lot of good schools in Washington. You’d like it out here. So tell me. You know John a long time? I meant what I said; he never talks about his past, never mentions anything about it.”

“I don’t know him all that well, actually.” She glanced up at the floor numbers on the reader board. “Mostly, my mother knows him. Knew him. She’s dead. I didn’t know him until a few years ago, when he came to visit. For a few days, that’s all.”

She was talking too much, giving up too much, but her uneasiness was increasing with every passing moment. She was beginning to hear voices — vague whispers that might be coming from her, but might also be coming from someone else.

“Oh, I’m sorry about that. About your mother.” Ray Hapgood seemed genuinely embarrassed. “Has she been gone a long time?”

Nest suddenly felt trapped in the elevator. She thought that if she didn’t get out right away, right this instant, she might start to scream. She was racked with shivers and her .skin was crawling and her breathing was coming much too quickly. “She’s been dead since I was little,” she managed.

The elevator doors opened, and she burst through in a near panic, feeling stupid and frightened and confused all at the same time. Ray Hapgood followed, looking at her funnily, “I don’t like close places,” she lied.