Traveler Ch. 04

*******

Brenda was still sitting where she was when I put pointy finger on his back. "Well that was fun, now you see why I'm still here. This place rocks and you owning the cottage now just makes every day so much fun."

She then patted the space by her side and asked me to sit next to her, we both looked at Victoria from the lock gate.

My daughter then stood at the place she had before. Then closed her eyes, we both watched as her head gently moved back and forth as the song resonated in her head, her smile let us know she was ready. Her eyes opening just then confirmed it. Cal-un-den came from my daughter heart, her eyes were the brightest I had ever seen them as she took a song that had been our peoples for generations and absolutely owned it.

Every inflection in her voice carried true harmony. That night her soul sang our peoples song, a song that brought the dead peace within our families, Victoria had learned from the choir leader and she in turn called on every note, every syllable, every nuance and inflection in her own voice to not only appease the dead, but also bring both the dead and the living, peace.

Brenda looked towards the slope that had held so many of our people the day we found her body and a breeze drifted over the slope, collected every word Victory sang and descended down the hill, enveloping the village of Cinder Creek in its grasp. A ten-year-old young lady may have sung to Brenda and me as we sat on the lock gate, but every person in Cinder Creek heard every single word. Cell phones came out and recorded a time that may never happen again.

Beth was sitting with Mr. & Mrs. Cooper in the kitchen, Beth went stiff and looked towards the window that overlooked the lock at the top of the slope, both noticed and looked at Beth more closely.

Suddenly she stood. "Grab you cell phones, quickly."

By the time they had stood, Beth was already standing outside in her garden. Both joined her as Cal-un-den drifted down the slope.

Mr. Cooper held up his phone. "We missed the beginning."

"Its okay, Brenda will ask Victoria to sing it again."

As Cal-un-den came to an end it was but a pause before the song drifted down to the village for the last time that evening. No one dared say a word, should they spoil the enjoyment of the person standing next to them. When the song once again ended, the people of Cinder Creek smiled at each other, to all those standing outside and listening to the youthful voice take a song so old that the water people had no knowledge of when this particular song was given to them. It was because of events like this that added yet another reason why they all lived here and refused to move away.

As the folks of Cinder Creek moved back to their own houses once again, Beth and Mr. & Mrs. Cooper slowly drifted back to Beth's house. All three were once again sitting at the kitchen table.

It was Brenda's mother who put voice to her thoughts. "How did you know that was coming from the lock?"

Beth knew it was a fair question.

She rested back into her chair and reminisced for a moment, wondering where to start. She spoke of growing up in the village, even when she went to college she couldn't wait to return to Cinder Creek. Beth would often walk along the canal, sometimes for miles when the weather was nice and comfortable to walk and not burn. She felt Brenda on one of those walks to the lock and the lock gates; it would have been a few months after the report of her going missing and the report that the lock was the last place she was seen alive.

"I can't speak to your daughter; I know of one who can. But I can feel her thoughts sometimes."

Beth stared at the wall behind Brenda's folks and her face was ever so sad.

"The night that Traveler was attacked, it was Brenda who called on the village to help. That alone took so much from her, she regards Traveler as one of her best friends and yet she could only watch as that man attacked her."

This time Beth looked harder at Brenda's folks. "This evening, that stranger to our village took the shine off of our ceremony, what happened just now was Brenda's way of saying that all is well in our small part of the world."

As she spoke, she noticed that Brenda's folks were holding hands. Beth pulled her cell out of her pocket and placed it onto the table, then pressed play. Cal-un-den filled the room and all three people that listening to it, felt so much calm.

*******

We all went home a few days after the ceremony. Robert reminded me that I had lit the touch paper and so far Victoria had met every challenge. Standing up and singing in front of almost a whole village took some serious stones that was for sure.

Victoria came to me a few days after we got back. The smug grin on her face wasn't lost on me either. "I know I'm only ten momma, but do you think I will be considered now?"

I smirked back, that worried her. "Concentrate on your education sweetheart. No one can do this job if they can't count past their fingers and toes."

Her thirst for the title of Traveler was worrying, more so when I couldn't get a definitive answer from her why she wanted it in the first place. My dad always told me that the best people to have power are the ones who don't want it.

When I looked at pops that day feeling really impressed, he just smirked, even shrugging his shoulders as he said, "Don't look at me like that, I read it somewhere. Probably off the back of a cigarette packet, I was smoking real heavy about the time I became so smart."

At the time, I just smiled and shook my head as I walked away from pops.

*******

I got the phone call that all parents dread. "Could I please come to the school and see the principle, Victoria has been in a fight."

Leaving the boatyard in confusion, this is my daughter the school was talking about, isn't it? Even phoning Robert on the way to the school, now left us both in a state of asking ourselves if they had the wrong child.

Opening the door to the outer office, my eyes took in Victoria. She sat next to a little girl who was holding onto my daughter like her life depended on it. I was sure the two chair space was intentional before my eyes scoped the little thug. I was staring at Mitchell Crosby's boy and a very pissed Mitchell was sitting right next to him. His face half obscured due to a towel over his nose, Mitchell (big thug) sat next to him and glared at me when he made the connection between Victoria and me.

He stood, then took a pace towards me, he also started the conversation with, "Your daughter..."

That's when I put my own hand up to stop him, he looked into my eyes first and wasn't too happy with what he saw. I still continued though, "You need to hang fire on making any noise Mitchell. It's taken me all of two seconds to figure out what's gone on and why I'm here."

My head pointed towards the little girl still hanging onto my daughter. "That little thug of yours decided to not be nice to that little girl. My daughter took exception to your little thug's attitude and adjusted it for him."

Victoria wasn't hiding her smirk. She wasn't hiding the nod of her head either.

This time he did take a step closer towards me and started to say, "You need to teach that little bitch...."

Sadly, that's as far as Mitchell (big thug) got, before I was standing over him rubbing the knuckles of my right hand. When the principle came out of her office, looked at 'big thug' laying on the floor out for the count and then looked at me standing over him.

I shrugged my shoulders and in as convincing tone as I could, I said, "He fell over?"

"Cassie. What the hell," the principle suddenly stopped, stood taller and after taking the biggest calming lungful of air imaginable said, "Mrs. Douglas, would you step into my office please."

She turned to move back into her office. I cut that journey short for her, when I said, "Only if you summon a male teacher to watch over these two little girls. I wouldn't put it past shit head down here to wake up and take his attitude out on my daughter and her friend. In short, I fear for the safety of those two children unless 'big thug' is supervised out here."

I've known this woman for years, both from school and at social events, our friendship was sorely being tested right now. Judging by her face turning crimson, I had a feeling I had lost a friend.

By pure luck the physical education teacher walked passed the open door, instinctively looked in and then down to the floor and at the man sleeping there. That made Mister Edwards suddenly stop and a little school child not noticing the sudden stop of the teacher in front of her, walked into him when he did.

The Principle spotted movement outside her office and said, "Mister Edwards, would you be so kind as to help Mister Crosby onto a chair, when he regains consciousness that is?"

I'm sure Mister Edwards head nodded on auto pilot while he still looked at the prone figure of the man still asleep on the floor.

Sharon Fulton had been the school principle for five years now and had never seen anything like this. "Dammit Cassie, this is going to be big trouble."

I was still standing by the chair Sharon had pointed at, for me to sit.

"Sharon I assure you that this will all be gone by the morning, the little snot that started this will either be moved to another school or his daddy will straighten him out."

Principle Fulton was still in anger mode, she stood and almost leaned over the desk her anger barely suppressed. "You put him on the floor, what's he going to say when he wakes up and realizes you dropped him there?"

I looked at my friend for a moment, and then said. "After he and I have a little chat, his going to apologize for his son's behavior and do something about it when he gets the little snot back home. I will be sitting across from him when we have this conversation and it won't happen again, you will have his word on it."

Sharon Fulton was curious to see how all that could be accomplished with one conversation. She really didn't want the fallout if all this went south, that was for sure. Slowly she nodded her head and then went to sit down. I left the door open to her office. Mitchell was helped to a seat by Mister Edwards and then with a nod from the Principle, he left to take his own class. Sharon could see me sit across from Mitchell Crosby, I leaned into him by a few inches, he followed suit. Sizing up the distance between us, his eyes gave away the urge to take a lucky shot at me.

"Leave it be Mitchell, it will hurt you far more in the long run if you even attempt it."

Surprise adorned his face.

My elbows rested on my knees and my head moved towards him by another couple of inches. "Mitchell, my people came to you on a regular basis for fuel, wood and water. You opened a small version of a general store and that flourished, as well. But over the years you've sat on your laurels and assumed that your shop was going to run itself. You forgot that you have to work to make money Mitchell, instead you've sat on your ass and taken to the booze, in doing that my people have moved away from you because you're an aggressive drunk."

His eyes gave me the pure hate look, but he sure wasn't disagreeing with me.

"Look what's happened to your son Mitch, he's turning into a mini version of you. Turn your life around Mitchell and my people will come back to you, continue on this path and you're going to be closed down and broke within two years."

His cheeks and then forehead went red. "So you're threatening me?"

I smiled and shook my head. "No Mitch, first off I don't need to and secondly all you have to do is look at your books to realize it." The pause lasted a second before I followed up with, "Seek help Mitch, don't let your own son follow the path your treading. Seek help and I personally will get the word out about you and together, we will turn your place around to what it once was."

He knew it was all on him, at the moment his whole family was working the store since they couldn't afford to hire anyone, that had sent Mitchell Crosby spiraling more towards the booze rather than away from it.

My hand came up and rested on his arm, Mitchell looked at it and then me. "Mitch, this isn't a bribe, more an offer of help. I will send two of the water people to help you for three months. It will give your wife a rest and your two boys time to deal with homework and to breathe again. But you seek help Mitch, we the water people will pay our people to be there and help you for those three months so use them wisely."

I could see him thinking about it, then he stood, I followed him and he held out his hand, mine also followed and we shook on it. That unwritten contract of the water people was being signed on a handshake and in the outer office of the principle's office. Mitchell Crosby left first, I simply waved goodbye to Principle Fulton and got on with my day.

True to my word, two of our folk turned up the next day at Mitch's place. He put them to work and sent his wife home. Over the following weeks, our people returned to use his services. I was told Mitch cried in his wife's arms that day. He never realized how big a hold the booze had on him and how badly it tore his family apart and almost took his business with it. The next day he went to an appointment to see a counsellor and together they are making headway.

No one, not even Mitchell's wife has seen an alcoholic drink pass his lips since then.

*******

It had been three weeks since Halloween and the debacle at the lock gates. Isn't it funny when you think all's well with the world and when the world has finished laughing at you, it drops the other shoe. Just as my mind was rebuking itself for having such thoughts, my cell rang.

My shoulders slumped as I recognized the number.

About six months before Abe backed away from being Traveler, I was sitting at work having a quiet day at the office, 'for us anyway', so I'm feet up reading Cosmo.

Sebastian is a friend of my husband. He was at the same newspaper as him when my husband introduced me to him. His attitude to life is no different now, back then I had to remind him that I was a lady and didn't need to listen to the garbage he was spouting.

Sebastian was wheelchair bound, had been since birth. He always maintained that his body may be busted, but his mind is as sharp as anyone else's. I liked his attitude to life, I liked him even more when he sat me down in front of one of his screens and introduced me to the dark web.

With Abe now gone, I had also heard from my husband that Sebastian had left the newspaper so I went to visit him a few weeks later. Our conversations went back and forth and knowing him as the computer genius that he was, the Cosmo article once again moved to the surface of my thoughts.

We talked for a couple of hours that day. I left him to think about our conversation and he phoned me back a week later, the discretionary fund was tapped into and an apartment closer to us and overlooking the canal was bought. Sebastian gave me a shopping list of what he needed and less than a month later Sebastian was the go to guy for the water people if you needed techie advice. His monthly newsletters were also read by every one of the water folk who had access to the internet.

Unbeknownst to those same folks, Sebastian also kept his eye on the darker side of the World Wide Web. To both Cindy and I, Sebastian was our version of a tech police officer.

"Hello Sebastian."

"News travels fast when Traveler gets into a fight and with none other than Marlon Harrison."

It was pointless to correct Sebastian, so I just let him talk.

"I've got something to show you, bring the Rottweiler with you, but make sure you leave mini-me Traveler at home."

Sebastian or not, I did feel I had to correct him. "That's my daughter you're talking about Sebastian."

"And?" was his confused reply.

I disconnected the call. The urge to go and see him alone wouldn't have had a happy ending. My next call was to Cindy.

"Good afternoon Traveler, what can I do for you today?"

"Find a babysitter. We've been summoned to Sebastian's."

The giggle was all Cindy. "I see he's still struggling with the concept of, when WE want something we ask him, not the other way around."

We both laughed, although I could already hear my cousin moving around her canal boat sorting things out. Cindy and I turned up at Sebastian's a couple of hours later, Cindy was exchanging barbs with him while I made all three of us a coffee each.

After a while, even Sebastian got bored and his attention once again went to why we were here.

"When you took an interest in Marlon Harrison, I thought it best to follow your lead."

He turned away from his computer and looked directly at me. "Victoria could well be in trouble."

I noticed from my peripheral vision that even Cindy sat a little straighter. We both let Sebastian continue. Right now, he had our full attention.

His lead into his story was once again the confrontation at the lock, when I put Marlon on his back.

"Out of curiosity, I did a little digging, starting with him and then his business. One inconsistency led to another."

He wheeled his chair closer to both Cindy and I. "He is smart, Traveler. Yes, he got stupid with you but I suspect Victoria made him do that."

Sebastian must have seen me getting pissed, more so when he kept adding my daughter into this conversation. Sebastian wheeled himself back to his computer table, took a sip of his coffee and started his story. When he heard about the disagreement I had with Marlon Harrison he automatically did a deep sweep of Marlon's life.

"I was about to dismiss him as harmless, Traveler. Then I remembered my first rule, and went to see who was hiding behind Marlon Harrison. For instance, did you know he has a silent partner? His cousin and wife dug him and his business out of a hole some years back, only once he became successful again did they hide themselves behind a ton of paperwork."

The reason for the decline in his business was because the body of Carol Somerville, aged fifteen, was found by hikers out in the desert. Suspicion moved away from Marlon when he produced paperwork proving Carol hadn't been on the books of 'Cherish of Las Vegas' talent agency for a couple of months."

Cindy and I sat and stared at him while he took another sip of his now cold coffee.

"There have been two other instances when young girls have been found dead in the desert. He hides his tracks well, Traveler, but he still sticks to some rules. A girl is dismissed from Cherish of Las Vegas and within three months they disappear and are discovered dead in the desert weeks later."

Sebastian let us both think on what he had said so far.

Cindy's voice was just above a whisper and for Cindy that was dangerous territory. "Do you think Marcy Wilson and her husband knew any of this?"

Sebastian nodded his head a second before he lifted his cup to his lips one last time and emptied the contents down his throat. Only when he put his cup back on his table did he continue.

"I can't prove it, but I truly suspect that's why his company got into money trouble in the first place. I think he molested one of the girls at Cherish and paid the family off. Then he wrapped it up in an NDA. He got smart real quick after that, he still needed his cousin and his wife to bail him out, but he did get real smart, Traveler. Two other girls have fallen foul of him because of it."

Both people in that room stared at me. Four innocents have fallen foul of this animal. Just what the hell was Marcy Wilson doing propping this man's business up rather than sending him to jail? Something in this mess just didn't feel right.

"I don't care who you have to hack Sebastian, I need to know for certain that Marcy Wilson knew of Marlon Harrison's weakness for young girls. Because if she did, then when she aided him, she committed the greatest sin any water person can make."