Arrival of the Traveler (Waldgrave Book 1) Read online

“You’re not allowed.”

  Lena had begun to learn her mother’s game. When she cooperated, her mother didn’t worry.

  “Okay.” Lena shrugged. “I’ll leave it alone.”

  Ava stood to go.

  “Mom?” Lena asked quickly. “When can I meet Grandpa?”

  Ava turned around, shocked at Lena’s choice of words. “Your grandfather. He’s a busy man. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s quite a while until you meet him. I don’t think he wants to bother with you.”

  “Oh. Okay.” Lena faked a smile. Ava smiled back, and walked away.

  She stared up at the ceiling patch where the staircase ended. She knew he wanted to meet her; he had left her gifts of clothing. She had seen him watching her out the windows. She hoped it wouldn’t be long. If both Ava and Howard didn’t want her to meet him, he had to be the one with the answers.

  That night, while she slept, she dreamed. Lena had dreamed often, lately; but it had been a long, long time since she’d had one of these dreams.

  Girl…girl!

  “Dad!” She sat bolt upright in bed. “Dad, it’s late…it’s… Dad?”

  Across the room, a pair of glowing eyes were slithering toward her. She shut her eyes again. “It’s a dream, it’s a dream, it’s a dream... It’s a dream.”

  She opened them again. No eyes. The room was dark except for the moonlight casting through the windows and onto the floor. Something reached out and touched her shoulder. In horror, Lena looked over.

  There they were. Right up next to her face. A tongue shot out and licked sharply pointed teeth, and Lena sat terrified. It had one paw rested on her shoulder. The cat was seated on her nightstand. It got up and started for her door, which Lena didn’t remember leaving open. It was then that her senses returned to her.

  The cat from the photograph! She shot out of bed and ran to the door.

  “Cat!” She whispered as loud as she dared to. “Cat!”

  It had already disappeared into the darkness of the other end of the hall. There was only one window in the second floor hall, and it was in the wrong spot to let in light from the moon; Lena closed her eyes tightly so that they would adjust to the darkness. She stepped out into the hall and tried to figure out where the cat had gone. She followed the hall slowly, checking every door as she went, but they were all closed tightly. As she approached the study door, the last one in the hall, she expected to find the cornered animal. But that door was closed as well…

  Did it get past me somehow?

  Not far behind her, she heard a door creak open. Her skin went cold, and every hair on her neck stood on end. Cats, after all, can’t open doors. Very slowly, she turned around.

  The library door stood a few inches open. Beyond there was only darkness. Only six inches lower than the doorknob, fully the height of a toddler, a feline face watched her. That was one thing the photographs hadn’t told her; this cat was an unusually large breed of some sort.

  “Did you do that?” Lena asked in her friendliest, scared witless voice.

  The cat turned and ran into the library. Lena followed it as far as the door, still questioning whether she believed cats could open doors, and looked inside. The library was shadowy in the dark; while the large windows did a good enough job in the day, the shadows cast by all the bookcases and furniture made corners and floors unsettlingly invisible. For a moment, she thought she had lost the cat, but no—it was there. Sitting and watching her from the edge of the stairs. It licked its teeth again, and then meowed in a very irritated manner.

  “Here, kitty kitty…” She walked slowly toward it as it continued to glare disdainfully at her. “Kitty, kitty, kitty…”

  At the foot of the stairs, she reached out to pet it. The cat leapt up a few stairs. Still on its feet, it watched Lena intently. Its ears flexed forward and back, and Lena suddenly had a bad feeling that the cat was listening to something she couldn’t hear. The cat turned and darted up the stairs, Lena’s eyes following. Just as it ran into the ceiling, or rather would have, a deep, stabbing, blinding pain brought Lena to her knees. She clutched her head, and laid down on the stairs. She might have screamed if she hadn’t been gasping for air. When she looked back up, there was the cat, sitting on the third floor landing. Its thin tail flicked lazily back and forth. The staircase now led up to a door.

  She pulled herself up onto her elbows, still lying on her stomach. She tried to think, but her head ached horribly. She had told her mother and her uncle that she wouldn’t. They didn’t want her to know what was up there, which meant it had to be good. The answers were up there, previously out of her reach; but now here she was, with nothing to stop her. She might have been able to do it the following day, but she was sure the cat would have made her sick enough to not be up to it, and her mother would probably start following her again.

  There was a noise like a dripping faucet that disrupted her thoughts. Lena looked down into a small pool of blood, and wiped her hand across her nose. A nosebleed, just like the one David had had.

  Lena grabbed a wad of tissues from a nearby table, and started to go up the stairs, steadying herself against the banister. The cat paced back and forth in front of the door at the top of the landing, meowing and scratching at the closed door. When Lena finally reached the top, she wrapped her hand around the handle dizzily. It was locked. She sat down on the top stair to rest.

  “Figures. Thanks for nothing, cat.” She said miserably.

  A light came on from behind the door and spread across the landing, sending another jolt of surprised adrenaline into Lena’s system. She looked over her shoulder as the door creaked open, and then fainted, falling raucously down the stairs and landing with a thud as the cat ran to its master.

  *****

  CHAPTER 6

  “I had nothing to do with it. I heard the cat at the door, and I opened it. I swear, sometimes I just don’t know how he gets out.” Master Daray smiled thinly. His cat rested complacently on his lap; he was getting too big to be a lap cat, but refused to give up the habit. The Master was too proud to pet him, but the cat was too proud to be cuddled, anyway. The feline had its eyes fixed on the girl, whose form rested on a couch; she was unconscious.

  Ava paced back and forth, crying uncontrollably. Mrs. Ralston had just returned to the library, carrying several blankets, warm water, and wash clothes. She spread a blanket over Lena, and then sat down on the edge of the couch.

  “Let me.” Ava went over to the couch.

  Mrs. Ralston glanced over at Howard.

  “Let her.” Master Daray nodded to his daughter. He watched Mrs. Ralston as if asking her to defy him. Howard nodded to Ralston, and she rose. Master Daray smiled as she did so. Ava sat down and started washing the nasty gash her daughter had received when falling down the stairs. It spread from her temple back into her hair; Ava hoped it wouldn’t leave a scar.

  Howard continued pacing the room, deep in thought. He had been faced with complicated situations before—quite a few of them. At the start of winter, he had been asked to take on the task of guarding his niece in addition to her grandfather. He had made mistakes. The season was drawing to a close, and he had been presented with another very complicated situation. This time, there could be no mistakes.

  “Daray, how did this happen?”

  “You’re a good man, Howard, despite your family’s shortcomings. I already told you.” The cat had had enough, and jumped to the floor before dashing back up the stairs, tail held high.

  “The cat. I see. Who is it? You’ve got someone on the outside, and I want to know who it is. Now!” He stopped in front of the chair that Daray sat in. Even though Howard stood, his seated companion was still the more intimidating of the two.

  “I don’t know how you could suspect me of such a thing. It would be against the law.” Daray leaned back and crossed his arms.

  “I want to know who you’ve been talking to, and how, or so help me…”

  On the couch, Lena was beginning to shift.
/>   “If you’ll excuse me, my granddaughter needs me.” His voice was cold and victorious. He pushed past Howard and walked over to the side of the couch.

  Lena twisted uncomfortably and slowly opened her eyes. The library was so much brighter than the darkness she remembered that she thought for a moment she’d gone blind. Then the faces started to come into focus. Her mother, tearful and familiar. Howard, looking as concerned as he had that first night in the sedan. Mrs. Ralston, her lips pursed tighter than ever. And a new face, that she vaguely remembered from somewhere… Sharp, dark eyes and gray-white hair parted on an angle. Even though it was late at night, he was wearing a formal business suit. There was a sinking feeling in her stomach that she didn’t understand. It might have been the bloody rag her mother was holding, but she didn’t think that was it.

  “Hello, dear.” He looked down at her. “You don’t know how much I wish we could have met on different terms.”

  “You…” Her voice was hoarse. Her mother shushed her as she continued to wash the blood off her face.

  “Abilene, is it? I would have named you Eden…”

  Howard started pacing again. He was sweating. Lena looked back up at Master Daray, and just watched. At the time, it was all she was capable of.

  “You look so much like your mother, and I guess we’ll all have to be grateful for that little blessing.” He knelt down by the side of the couch and started to examine her face. “Filthy, inferior human being. There’s hardly any trace of your father there to remind us of the abhorrent mistake he was…”

  A single tear slid down her cheek. Howard lost his temper in a way that Lena never thought possible.

  “UPSTAIRS, NOW!”

  “I will not be ordered about, not anywhere, and especially not in my own house!” Daray turned to Howard. He hadn’t yelled, exactly; it was more of a whisper. His wrinkled face contorted, and she knew he was still more powerful than Howard, who was easily half his age. Lena was almost sure one of them would not be leaving the room alive.

  “Let’s not forget what happens to you without me, Daray. Let’s not forget what happens to them.” He nodded towards the couch. Ava looked pleadingly over her shoulder.

  Daray sneered. “Now that she knows, there’s no point in jailing me. I’ll expect to see her on a regular basis.” He turned and walked calmly back up the stairs. Howard was sure he saw him smiling.

  He walked back towards Lena, and spoke to her over the back of the couch. She was crying.

  “He’s not someone you should trust.” Howard said. “I know how rarely you trust anyone, but you should especially not trust him. He’ll say anything to get you to do what he wants. He’ll do anything. Don’t trust him.” Lena raised a hand to her face and wiped away the tears that had settled in her eyes. There wasn’t any anger in Howard’s face. His knuckles were white where he grabbed onto the back of the couch, and there was nothing but fear in his eyes.

  “So you met him? What’d you think?” David smiled at her. It was two weeks later, and while most of her symptoms had cleared up, she still had nose bleeds from time to time. She had stayed in her room for most of the duration of her sickness, her mother at her side almost twenty-four hours a day. Howard had visited frequently, and told her not to worry, that Master Daray would not be allowed to see her again for quite some time.

  In response to David’s question, Lena could only shiver. In her mind, “quite some time” was sadly too soon. Spring was arriving very slowly at Waldgrave; Lena had watched the transition through her bedroom window. As David removed a hornet’s nest from under the carport, Lena sat on the new grass nearby.

  “I told you.” He sprayed the nest furiously.

  “David, was my name originally Eden?” She squinted a little as she tried to watch him. It was nice to finally feel the sun on her skin again.

  “How would I know?”

  “Um…He never mentioned it to you?”

  “No. As far as I know,” David climbed down the ladder, “You’ve always been Lena Collins.”

  “Abilene Collins.”

  “Whatever.” He grabbed the ladder and glared up the nest. It was only baseball sized, but it just refused to die. As he started walking back down toward the barn, Lena got up to follow him.

  “Well, the thing is, I found a birth certificate.” He walked faster than she did, even carrying the ladder, and Lena was forced to half run to keep up.

  “Uh huh.”

  “And I know it has to be mine, because my parents and my birthday are on it, but it won’t even show me my name!” David stopped. As he turned around to face her again, Lena took a few steps back to avoid being hit by the ladder.

  David’s expression was guarded. “And you think that your name must have been changed, and that’s why it’s blank?”

  “Unless there’s something you know…”

  David sighed and turned back around. He was quiet for a minute. “I think… that’s an excellent explanation.” He started walking back towards the barn.

  “So then you think it’s true?”

  “I think you should talk to your mother about it. You might want to take the certificate with you when you do.” David nodded back towards the house. Through a window, Lena could clearly see Ava watching over her. She said her thanks and goodbye to David, and walked back up to the house. After retrieving the certificate out of the bathroom drawer, she sought out her mother, who was busy making lunch in the kitchen.

  “Mom? Can I ask you some questions?”

  “Sure sweetie. You know you can ask me anything.” She smiled and turned around. She had a mustard stain on the front of her dress, but Lena decided not to point it out. Ava was particular about her appearance, and would insist on changing before they continued.

  “Why don’t you let Mrs. Ralston do that stuff? I mean, we pay her to cook, right?” Lena asked.

  “I just enjoy it, that’s all.” Ava’s smile faded a little. Lena doubted this was the real reason, as she’d never seen Ava make anything other than sandwiches. “Besides, I don’t like her cooking all that much. You came down here to ask me why I cook?”

  “Not exactly.” Lena thrust the piece of paper she had clutched in her hand at her mother. “I can’t read the name on it. Why can’t I read the name on it?”

  Ava’s expression softened, and Lena could see she was about to fall to pieces. Her whole manner changed and her voice became small, like a child’s. Tears stood in her eyes. “Where did you find this?”

  “It was…Mom, what’s wrong? It was in a photo album I found upstairs.”

  Ava walked slowly into the dining room and sat down. She held the birth certificate with both hands, as if she were afraid it would break if she dropped it. She just stared at it. Lena went to sit with her, and not too long after Howard appeared at one of the other dining room doors.

  “Is everything okay in here?” He walked over toward them, and Ava held the certificate out at him. She got up and walked to a window at the other end of the room. She stared listlessly out across the yard, toward a small clump of trees further out on the property, as Howard started to talk.

  “You’re…sure? You don’t want to do this yourself, Ava?”

  Ava nodded.

  “Uncle Howard, what’s wrong?” Lena looked frantically from her mother to her uncle. “If I’d known it was such a big deal, I wouldn’t have…”

  “What do you know about this?” His voice was more gentle than accusing. Lena slowly took the birth certificate back.

  “It says my parents’ names, and my birthday…but everything else is blank. Was my name changed, or something?”

  “Lena, this is…this is not your birth certificate.”

  “But it has my birthday—the right year, and everything!”

  Howard looked uneasily back over towards Ava, who still stared firmly out the window. “This belonged to someone else, who lived here a long time ago.”

  Something was starting to come together in Lena’s mind. The reason h
er mother was so anxious about her safety.

  “Who used to live here?”

  Howard took another deep breath and set the birth certificate on the table. “Your brother. You had a brother.”

  She’d had a brother. From the window, Ava let out a quieted sob.

  “He came to live here a long time ago, after your parents split up. Your father took you, and your mother took Thomas.”

  Thomas…

  “He died. When he was five, and because he was with your mother, I guess your dad just didn’t…didn’t want…” Howard’s voice broke, and he looked purposely away from the piece of paper in his hands, trying to collect himself.

  “He never told me the truth about anything, did he?” Lena’s eyes were tearing up, but she wasn’t sure it was out of sadness. It was shocking. Somehow, she’d made peace with the fact that her dad hadn’t wanted her to know her mother. But to hide a sibling? His own child? Her brother, the one person in the world that would have understood her predicament, the friend that she had so desperately wanted, so many times, when she’d never stayed long enough as a child to form any real friendships. Everyone that was her friend was dead, leaving her with her psychotic mother, the deceptive Howard, and the horrible man in the attic. She was living in a personal hell, and part of her wanted it to just be over. She wanted to be with the family she belonged with…the dead family. She got up from the table, and started to walk away; Howard reached out and touched her arm. She shook him off and started into a run.

  “Lena!” Ava screamed. “Stop!”

  Out of the dining room, out of the house, out of the orderly green yard, and farther. She ran until her lungs burned, and finally collapsed under a large cottonwood tree. She sat with her back to the tree, and stared in a direction that was anywhere but towards Waldgrave. She looked at the mountains, and the sun hovering just above them.

  Her brother, father, grandmother…everyone was dead. Everyone dies, after all. Why did she care? She didn’t know. It was all pointless anyway, wasn’t it? So what if her parents had never loved one another—or if she’d never gotten the chance to meet her own brother? So what if her grandfather was…the way he was? Her father wasn’t the person he had claimed to be—by far. But the more she tried to justify it to herself, the harder it was to understand. She had cried a lot lately, and now her head just hurt. Her whole life and being hurt.