Traveler Ch. 04

Sebastian had grown to learn so much about the ways and traditions of the water people I sometimes believe that's why his found a home with us.

"No water child has ever been given to the courts to house for us. It just isn't our custom."

Our children are our future. We protect them with greater vigor than the land people do. When the elders of any of the water families die through illness or accident, other family members instantly step in and take them in. It has been known of non-family members to take friends' children in and raise them. It had always been our way for as long as Traveler could recall.

Now a water person was poisoning our traditions. Marrying a land person wasn't new and certainly not frowned upon, but Marcy Wilson knew our ways and helping anyone, be they land or water person with such a heinous crime against children, poisoned our traditions.

The room was silent when I looked again at these two. Cindy smiled, she saw it in my eyes. Sebastian shuddered and quickly turned back to his computer.

"Marcy gets the same chance her brother-in-law gets, which is none." I looked directly at Sebastian and said, "Cindy and I have things to do, phone one of us when you have what I've asked for."

He went a little pale but nodded his head. I held the door open for Cindy then turned and looked at Sebastian, "When we have the information we need, you will get a phone call so keep one of us up to date with your number. It will ring and all we will give you is a time before the connection is terminated, and the number we had used, will no longer exist. For your protection be somewhere public at that time, it will be your alibi so choose wisely."

*******

Ten Years Later...

"Hey Traveler. First off, I resent the hell out of being your personal secretary. I just got off the phone with Emit Franklin. He has called a meeting of 'the five' and expects you to be on time for the meeting. You're a damn kiss ass, how the hell did you ever get to go to any of those meetings when your granddad and I never even got a sniff of the conference room door?"

Victoria smiled that devilish smile of hers. "I asked nicely..!!!"

My eyebrow went up. "Yeah, right."

Within the hour, she had cast off and was headed south in 'Ruffles'.

Before Victoria was officially announced as Traveler, we went into a huddle at the boatyard, two months later the end result was the canal boat she was in at the moment. My husband and I watched her leave. She even did that backward wave thing knowing we were still watching.

I held Beth and Trisha, Cindy's two girl's close to me. They were still waving at Traveler as she motored along the canal, I leaned my head onto the shoulder of my husband. Robert knew this was the hardest part for me. With the girls holding a hand of mine each, my mind drifted back to those fateful few days, when so many lives changed.

*******

Drifting thoughts regarding the past....

Marcy still had friends among the water people, they told her that I was looking for her and had Cindy with me. Marcy told her brother-in-law, she and Marlon Harrison decided to take matters into their own hands, courtesy of his brother and a handgun. The stolen car pushed us off the road and the gun battle lasted a few minutes, but at such a loss.

Cindy knew I wasn't armed and stood in front of me; she took a round to her chest before managing to kill that treacherous bitch Marcy, as she got out of the car that rammed us. I was still pinned in, due to Marlon crashing into my side of the car. The gun battle between Cindy and Marlon wasn't going to last long. Cindy was the families' enforcer; she'd grown up around guns.

But Cindy was handicapped. I was pinned in the car and a sitting duck for Marlon. I was still trying to get out when they both went 'Gunfight and the OK Coral' on each other. She killed him, but Marlon took Cindy with him.

By the time I had managed to get out of the car, Cindy was breathing her last. I held my cousin and dearest friend in my arms and wept. Her voice was only just above a whisper, leaning down helped. "Love them Traveler, they already love you, so the transition shouldn't be too difficult."

Her head rested on my chest. Cindy gave one last breath before her eyes closed for the final time and left this world. My heart broke. The scream of despair and utter grief of losing one of my truest friends followed Cindy into the afterlife as I clung so hard onto her lifeless body.

I knew I had to move and take Cindy with me, Marcy and Marlon could burn in hell for all I cared. I pulled Cindy back into the car and left, running over Marlon's dead body on the way out. Knowing time was limited and the condition of this car was going to be noticed, the Traveler that was drilled into me at such a young age came to the fore. As I drove I phoned Barnaby Applegate. He was the combat medic in my father's unit back in Vietnam, but above all, he was one of us. As I drove to him, he had his boy drive to us thus limiting the time it took us to get to him.

He worked out our meeting point and with the aid of Sebastian. He talked me through the roads to take for the next hour as he kept me away from known police trouble spots and where they sit with the speed gun turned on. When I found what I was looking for, I turned off and got as close to the canal as I dared. That's when I phoned Barnaby again, he told me he was minutes away.

It was only when he pulled the door open that I realized he had arrived. His fingers went to my friend's neck; then gently shook his head at me.

"I'm sorry Traveler, she's gone. I need to get you both out of here. I've had Sebastian also monitoring the Police bands; they've found the bodies and are looking to circle us inside via coming in from all the major roads before they tighten the noose hanging over us."

I nodded. My focus was getting more difficult. "You've taken a bullet Traveler and judging by what's on your lap, you've lost allot of blood. I'm going to put you out so I can work on you. Don't worry. We will bring Cindy. She's going home with us Traveler."

I nodded, even that took everything I had left. My grip on my truest friend's hand started to slacken and for a second as my body sent me to sleep, I hated myself for being so weak. My friend was dead, she stood in front of me knowing the outcome from that monster and yet she did it anyway. The realistic part of my mind rebuked me for even thinking I could stay conscious for my friend, when my own body was so damaged. I fought it with everything I had, she was my best friend and I had lost her, as that thought reverberated around in my head, my world went dark.

*******

My eyes slowly opened, Barnaby was sitting on a chair next to me, his smile as infectious as ever. My body sensed the movement of us over water just as I realized we were on his canal boat.

"How long?" It hurt to talk, but I needed to know.

"Three days, Traveler. The Police have both bodies, but no idea what's gone on. The car you were in was torched. We moved Cindy into hiding, but we have a problem. We contacted Cindy's husband and he met us. Jason sat with his wife for a few minutes, then leaned over her and kissed her. He then sat back down and had some sort of seizure. He died holding his wife's hand."

We are water people, to the outside world what happened to Jason would have been looked on as unusual, but he and Cindy were joined in more ways than marriage. They were true soul mates almost from birth. Even as babies, the water folk knew they were born to be together. In life as well as death. The moment he kissed his dead wife, he was bound to join her on her journey.

I managed to whisper, "The girls?"

Barnaby nodded and said "They are safe, your husband has them. You know Traveler, for a land person, he sure feels the vibe of the water, doesn't he?"

I nodded my head, even my own heart swelled with pride that that man of mine understood so much.

Barnaby rose from his chair. "Get some rest, Traveler. We will be at the boatyard in a few days."

Drifting in and out as I was, I hadn't realized that Barnaby was playing it smart. The Police were looking for someone, but we left no clues, so they were doing what they do best via the highways and side roads.

The car we had used wasn't any use to them. Ever since Cindy became the Traveler's enforcer she had built up her own network, from safe houses, hotels and motels that were totally discreet and of course a few cars scattered around the county. All belonged to a company set up by Sebastian, all on paper that would hold up under police scrutiny, but could be folded up at a press of a button from a computer key.

Barnaby had sent Cindy's body onwards while he moved us to the canals although still taking the shortest route for us. That was going to take us past our cottage at Cinder Creek. Barnaby and his son were outside working the lock gates when Brenda Cooper walked onto the boat and came down the steps, she spotted me and smiled.

"I had heard the rumors among the water people. They say you went all John Wayne on the scumbag that you tossed over your shoulder here at Halloween."

I wasn't about to deny anything to this woman.

"They killed Cindy. I have to get back home so that I can finish the clean-up."

Brenda nodded in understanding. "Welcome back Traveler. When you're feeling better, pop back and fill the holes in for me. That has the makings of a long and interesting story, I look forward to it."

We both waved goodbye to each other as Barnaby pushed power back into the engine and our journey back home continued.

A few days later and with me feeling a lot better, although still under threat of being tide to the bunk if I dared try and leave the cabin by Barnaby, we moored up at the yard. Robert came aboard, had a few words with Barnaby and then came down the steps. I was dressed for the first time since all this happened, sitting on the edge of the bunk when he got to the bottom of the steps.

My man looked close to tears, more so when I stood and he wrapped me in his arms. His body was a welcome comfort just as the pain from my wounds were pressed into my body. This was Robert, my husband and life partner and forever friend. No pain was ever going to separate us. When he eventually moved away from me, I felt I had to say something.

"It's not over yet, the husband is a lose end. We have two children that need a loving home. Robert, please, please let them stay with us."

Even as tears ran down his cheeks, he smiled and nodded his head. I wrapped my arms around him and cried right alongside him. We made provisional plans but time was still of the essence, the husband was still out there and I needed to know what he knew. Barnaby and his son stayed for an hour then told us they had to go, we understood, thanked them both and waved them goodbye.

I spent the rest of the afternoon with the children no more than two feet away from me. It was only when we put them to bed did I phone Sebastian. He was the one keeping tabs on the husband.

"At the moment he is holed up at the red roof motel over in Louisville. He's moving money around, some moving closer to him, the rest was going abroad. I've intercepted just shy of two million that he has supposedly sent off-shore at the moment."

He didn't see me nod my head, so I just said, "When he figures out you've stolen his money he is going to run with what he's got. I need you to do some homework for me, go in search of the Faraday families' bank account. It was Jennifer Faraday that Marlon molested then paid off and rapped them in an NDA. Him and Marcy turned a blind eye on this monster because he was family and for the sake their own investment in Cherish of Las Vegas."

I heard Sebastian agree with me, and then I added. Find out the bank details of the families of the three girls he murdered. It's not going to bring back their daughters but they deserve something in the way of justice. When you get the word from me, divide everything money wise you manage to steal back from him into four and send it onward."

I heard a laugh come down the phone from Sebastian. "I swear its times like these Traveler that I realize why I like working for you. I'll track down their accounts and have things ready, I will let you know when his ready to bolt."

*******

Ten days later...

Sebastian sent word that some unknown cousin claimed both bodies. He then followed that up with the date of the funerals, the funeral had just started and I waited at the edge of the cemetery and watched as a few cars followed the two despicable lowlifes to the cemetery. As the relatives gathered around the hole in the ground, a nondescript car pulled up at the back of the parked cars, yet no one got out. I repeated the registration into my cell and Sebastian let me know it was a rental.

Coming at the car from an angle that the mirrors would be useless to him, he sat in fear as the door opened and I sat alongside him. His hands stayed on the wheel, his knuckles white.

"Because of your continued silence so many lives have changed and not for the better."

Howard Wilson went white. The fear in his eyes was real, along with a sheen of sweat forming across his brow, culminating in a slow trickling of his fear seeping down either side of his temple.

"Please don't kill me."

My head pointed towards the service going on, no more than a hundred yards from us. "Those that desperately needed to die, already have."

I kept Cindy out of this conversation. She was my business now, not his. His eyes took in the funeral service for his late wife and cousin. Howard watched for a few minutes, his eyes gave him away. He looked like he hated everyone who stood around the two holes in the ground.

"I was born a weak man Traveler, that's not an excuse, it's a fact. The one thing that held me above those vultures standing over those graves is that I know how to make money, be it from the stock exchange to currency variations. I've been keeping almost all of them fed and comfortable most of my adult life. Then I met Marcy. For many years I thought the love was mutual, sadly it's only recently that I've found that love can be so blind."

His grip of the steering wheel slackened and he used one of his hands to brush away his tears.

"It seems my wife likes powerful men and money. Since I could only provide the money, she looked on Marlon as the powerful man in our relationship. Between you and Cindy you've dealt with the real monsters in this family."

His eyes met mine. "That night at the Halloween gathering and what you did to Marlon turned Marcy into an angry woman. She already had Marlon and me wrapped around her pussy, but you were the only person she was afraid of. She sat us down and told us so much about you and Cindy. I am sorry for your loss Traveler, I truly am. But I honestly couldn't control her."

I knew he was telling me the truth, his eyes gave away so much of him, no wonder Marcy married him. It was her free ticket to luxury and her escape from the waterways. I nodded in understanding. Marcy had fooled us all.

Getting out of the car, I walked away. My cell came out of my pocket and I dialed Sebastian's number.

"Make Howard your full time project, put all else on the back burner for now. The second he sets foot on the plane out, transfer everything he's supposedly stashed abroad to the four accounts. He leaves with what's in his pockets. He can make more when he gets to where his going. It's not going to change the lives of four families in as much as they will never have their children back, but at least this money will give them a chance of hope for the future, something they've had little of up until now."

I heard a giggle down the phone. "Remind me never to piss you off... Ever."

It was my turn to smile, I closed my cell and got back into my car, it was time to go home.

*******

My conversation with Robert went on into the late evening and into early morning. As always, he was willing to work around me, due to the status of Traveler. For me, without Cindy by my side or off doing errands for me I was all but ready to give my daughter her wish. The only thing truly slowing that actually happening was her age.

Robert and I had one of the neighbors teen-age daughters looking after the children for a few hours, the park and ice cream got mentioned, followed by a few girlie screams which made my son wince, they all still headed for the door of course. With silence in the house, we beckoned Victoria to sit and finally have one of those talks.

"Sweetheart you've done all I've asked and with the enthusiasm I had hoped. The only thing holding you back at the moment is your age."

It was seeing her shoulder slump that gave her away.

"However that is also a blessing in disguise. Between your father and I we will monitor you. For instance, you need to enroll into self-defense classes. I want you to spend time with Barnaby Applegate. Learning first-aid is one thing but learning from Barnaby, that's real hands on stuff. His knowledge is sometimes thinking more out of the box and that's what you as Traveler will always be doing.

Her smile grew with each encouraging step all three of us took for my daughter to take the mantle of Traveler one day. What held her in her chair was sheer willpower, it only took me pausing before she dashed across the space between us we hugged the hell out of each other.

Her summer holidays were looming, Victoria asked if she could spend the summer with Barnaby. I phoned over to Barnaby and he agreed, saying he could do with someone cleaning his boat for him. My daughter knew that was a bold-faced lie and smiled. Robert and I looked around for self-defense classes and on the insistence of Victoria, we had her enrolled, she started classes later that week.

The Karate classes seemed to come with 'conditions' as well. I was self-taught by my father, something in me couldn't teach my daughter what he taught me. I looked on me doing the teaching as being too close, Robert agreed. But the Karate teacher was a smart little Japanese man. He took one look at me and bowed, the whole school stopped in shock that this teacher did this. Confused as I was I still bowed back at him, more out of respect for him and his position than understanding why he did that.

"Your aura gives away your position."

Now I was spooked. Was this guy reading my mind?

"Five years ago I was looking around for a place to settle and start this Karate club, my family and I were set to leave and look elsewhere when we passed you and this young lady in the car park at the shop. It was seeing you and then the aura that surrounded your daughter that I told my western wife that we had found our new home."

My own father's words about the east had long ago made me realize that it was never wise to dismiss something that we western people couldn't understand.

Victoria and I sat down with this man and mapped out my daughters classes. He understood the need to build muscle tone within her as well as the classes.

"I will tailor her classes personally Traveler. She is in shadow of you, come the day of her eighteenth birthday it will be her shadow that stands in front of you." Hmmm. I didn't see that one coming. It seemed the Karate classes come with their own 'conditions', as well.

Both Victoria and I bowed to this man when we left his Dojo that afternoon.

*******

With school out, in the middle of summer holidays and Victoria with Barnaby, social services paid us a visit. A nice woman named Tanya Walker. We sat and had coffee, she watched the interaction between my son and Cindy's two girls. He sure took on the role as big brother with those two and they both doted on him.

"Head office understands the relationship between children and other families of the water Mrs. Douglas. Seeing your family in action has proved every word in the report I read before I got here. So I'm turning this conversation around to save us both time. Do you need anything from us?"