chapter Sixteen
Becky and Nathaniel had staged it well. Initial reports called the fire accidental due to an abundance of flammables in the taxidermy shop that had apparently ignited from a lit cigarette left on the workbench. The flames spread quickly, and the bodies were found in the garage, but they and the house were fully engulfed by the time the volunteers arrived.
Two days passed before Katie arrived, trailing a member of the Council. Liberty was gathering a few final items when Katie called out from the vestibule.
“Nathaniel? Gabriel?”
Liberty entered the corridor from the sitting chamber. “Katie?” She hadn’t seen Deacon Flood in years, but he still looked the same. Wavy brown hair, olive skin, a little soft in the middle. “Hello, Deacon.”
He tipped his head in greeting.
“Nathaniel?” Katie looked over Liberty’s shoulder.
“I’m the only one here. Nathaniel is, uh, at the new cavern up north. Mitch died a couple of nights ago.”
“And Gabriel?”
Liberty swallowed, stepped toward Katie and proceeded to lie. “We were planning to come see you tomorrow. I’m so sorry.”
Katie’s face contorted, “Something happened to him.”
Liberty noticed she stated it, didn’t ask. “Yes. Not far from here. Nathaniel found him in a ditch on Rimrock Hill, said he didn’t think he’d suffered.” Katie allowed Liberty to hug her.
Liberty stepped back as Deacon shamelessly coddled and soothed Katie while she mourned her loss. Liberty raised her eyebrows in a questioning manner when he whispered in Katie’s ear while smoothing her hair, and he cooled his behavior a bit. After a respectable few minutes, Katie pulled herself together, but held fast to Deacon’s arm.
Sniffling, Katie said, “I suspected as much, when Adrian came home without Gabriel…told us how he’d almost gotten killed by hunters. But still. It’s hard to accept.”
Liberty nodded, “I can understand.” Could she ever.
Katie met her eyes, “You should know something, not that it does anybody any good now, but Adrian said he believes Mitch was involved in Sage’s disappearance.”
Liberty feigned surprise, gasped. “What?”
“You don’t have to believe it, but Adrian swears it’s the truth. He said he saw a truck parked on the road near the area he last saw her. Glimpsed it through the trees. It was yellow with a black stripe.”
Butterflies flitted around in Liberty’s stomach. What else had he seen? “He never told us,” she said, knowing full well it was Mitch’s truck.
“He was ashamed that he ran. He’s hated himself for it, too. All this time. He’s just a boy, Liberty. You can’t blame him for running.”
It was true. Liberty had blamed him. She dropped her eyes and said softly, “You’re right. And I’m sorry.”
Katie nodded a brief acknowledgment, “Last week, when…” she paused, giving a sideways glance to Deacon, “we visited? Adrian saw the same truck parked at the farmhouse.”
Liberty pretended to make the connection, then shrugged and said, “You’re right about one thing. There’s not much we can do about it anymore.”
Deacon spoke up, “Is Nathaniel coming back tonight?”
Liberty met his dark eyes, shook her head, “He’s already been and gone. In fact,” she glanced over her shoulder into the sitting chamber, “I should be heading back soon. But like I said, you’re welcome to stay here.”
He looked to Katie for an answer, but she didn’t respond, only leaned into him. “Thanks anyway,” he said, “but in light of the bad news,” he put an arm around Katie, “we should be getting back.”
Liberty walked them to the vestibule. “I’m really sorry about Gabriel. I know things haven’t been good between us for a while now, but I hope you know how much we cared about him.”
The three of them stopped near the ladder and Katie said, “I appreciate it. Also, Patience wanted me to tell you she is planning to pay a visit soon.”
Liberty begged off, kept her voice level. “A good thing you mentioned it, then, because as soon as we get settled in, we’re coming to Proem. And,” Liberty pointed to the hatch, “lucky for Nathaniel and I, we’re actually getting out just in time because Mitch’s family is selling the woods to developers. The land will be timbered out soon.”
When Katie and Deacon were finally gone, she rubbed her nose, thanked goodness she wasn’t a wooden boy.
Nathaniel discovered Mitch had well prepared for their transition. Not only had he created new identities and paperwork to substantiate it, but also funds to keep up the house. She’d laughed when he’d shown her their new IDs, the photos on them were the ones Becky had jokingly called mug shots.
An agent had called to set up a meeting to discuss the estate and investment strategies, so Nathaniel said they had a lot to learn in a short amount of time.
They talked a bit about how things had turned out with the bands, how things had gotten messed up and not gone exactly as Mitch and Ellie had planned. In a perfect scenario, Liberty would have gotten the first amulet, Nathaniel the second, and then by proxy, and not needing a band because she was their child, Sage would have transformed. Liberty hadn’t fully accepted how things had played out, but never groused about it. Sage was alive, so she focused on that.
Two weeks later Liberty sat on the edge of the claw-foot tub, staring at the inside of the closed door of her pretty yellow bathroom.
Her bathroom. She still couldn’t get used to saying it, and didn’t imagine it would happen any time soon. She was a slow adapter after all.
The first day Nathaniel and she moved into the farmhouse basement, she’d spent a good amount of time opening and closing the three doors. One opened into the bathroom, one into the bedroom, and one into the laundry room. She loved the soft snick they made when they latched.
A light rap sounded on the door, “Mom?”
Sage had already knocked once before, seemed more eager for an answer than she to give one.
“Yes?”
“Anything yet? It’s been almost an hour.”
“Uh uh, not yet.”
“Okay,” she heard Sage sigh, watched her shadow move in the gap beneath the door.
“Hey mom? I know you said you wanted to be alone, but I have something for you. I didn’t know when would be a good time, but I figured probably now was as good as any to give it to you.”
Liberty raised her brows as Sage pushed a book under the door. She leaned over and picked it up. Spiral bound and royal blue, a cartoon pink owl sat in the center of the cover over one word, DIARY.
“What’s this?”
“Well, so much happened, you know, when I was…away. And Mitch had given me that book, thought I might want to write down my thoughts. So, after a while I did. I wrote stuff down since I couldn’t talk to you. It helped.”
Liberty heard something swish, watched the shadow grow larger as Sage sat on the floor on the other side.
“So, anyway, like, I knew I was going to see you again soon. Except Mitch hung on a little longer than we expected. Which was good, of course.” She paused and spoke softly, sadly. “Even if you didn’t know I was here, I knew you were there, so it made us not being together more bearable.”
Liberty’s eyes blurred as she flipped through the book. It was almost full, drawings and doodles were in some of the margins. Her nose started to sting from the tears she knew were coming. “Thank you, baby. I’ll read it today.”
Sage laughed. “Oh, you probably won’t get it all read this afternoon, but, you’re welcome.” She paused, then added, “Anything yet?”
Liberty got up, dried her eyes on a velvety yellow hand towel, disengaged the lock, and opened the door. She nodded at Sage. She’d already known, but wasn’t ready to come out yet. She tipped her head toward the sink.
Sage got up, stepped inside, picked up the stick and with wide eyes turned. “Dad! Come quick! I’m going to be a sister.”
Sage threw her arms around Liberty and was still jumping up and down when Nathaniel appeared in the doorway.
She waved the stick like a magic wand in front of him. “Look! It’s positive!”
Nathaniel looked at Liberty, a gentle smile on his lips. “Guess it’s a yes then?”
Rubbing her belly, Liberty nodded. “Guess it is. And an answer to all the nausea and fainting.” Truth be told, she felt a little faint then.
“I’m going to call Becky.” Sage rushed out, already on the phone. “I’ll tell her she’s going to be an aunt,” she called over her shoulder.
Nathaniel led Liberty to the adjoining bedroom, sat next to her on the bed and put his arm around her shoulders.
“I suppose we have lots of plans to make, huh?”
She looked at her feet, wondered whether the baby would be a part of her, or Sage and Nathaniel’s world. Wishing, hoping, for the latter. “It seems we do.”
Sage bounded back into the room, the phone pressed to her ear. “Aunt Becky says congrats and she wants to know what you and Dad are hoping for.”
She and Nathaniel looked at each other, and then back at Sage.
“A baby,” they said in unison.
Laughing, they hugged each other. Maybe they were gathered together in a basement, but it was a step up from the caverns. They’d take it, for a day, a week, a year. Perhaps, sometime in the future, there’d be another step up for them.