Chapter 36

  Elizabeth Eddison

  They sat at a table in the food court of the mall, eating lunch. Elizabeth had sloughed her jacket onto the back of her chair, and she tied back her hair and ate a plate of chicken and rice while Elmer and Amelia had told her everything they knew, which amounted to little. They could not recall their identities, their home, or the reason for their pursuit. They could not even remember why they needed to find an angel such as Callie so badly, except that it was important because of something “quite dreadful” that was about to happen.

  Liz was fascinated but skeptical, until Isaac texted her. After this virtual conversation, during which her new friends carried on with each other about the food, she was prepared to provisionally believe everything Amelia and Elmer said. Jim in danger? Isaac in danger? A madman in Pikeston, Montana, looking for an angel? Elizabeth wondered about Kate, who likely knew more about what was going on than anyone by virtue of whatever mysterious augury she performed.

  When her conversation with Isaac had concluded, Elizabeth stared at her bourbon chicken for a moment in thought, twisting the silver ring from AJ on her finger.

  Amelia and Elmer were comparing and contrasting their dishes—pad Thai and chow mein. Their own personal contrast of ebullience and apathy made their every interaction inherently amusing in itself. “Excuse me,” said Elizabeth, interrupting Elmer’s spirited effort to describe the taste. “Do you know of someone named Abraham Black?”

  Their reactions were identical. Each of them froze, and their eyes gazed blankly into the distance. Elmer dropped his fork, Amelia put a hand to her head. They looked at each other in fear, and Elmer reached out and seized hold of Amelia’s hand in a tight grip.

  Elmer fumbled in his pocket with his free hand and produced the notebook of things he had remembered. “I…am familiar with that name,” he said slowly. “But…” He shook his head, clearly having difficulty remembering the details.

  “It’s okay,” said Elizabeth. “He’s not here. He’s far away. Is there anything you can tell me about him?”

  They did their signature move, turning in unison to gaze dramatically at each other. Amelia sighed and propped her head up with a hand. “I’m afraid not,” she said.

  They had told her enough already, just by their response to the name. Abraham Black scared them, even if they couldn’t remember why.

  “Do you mind if I text someone else?” she asked. “I apologize for my rudeness, but…”

  They didn’t mind. Amelia appeared to have lost her appetite. She picked sadly at the food on her plate. Elmer, on the other hand, rebounded marvelously and immediately set out to cheer up his companion.

  Elizabeth sent a message to Kaitlyn Carter.

  EE: Kate?

  KC: hi Liz!

  EE: Are you at home?

  KC: nope! I’m on a plane!

  KC: :)

  EE: Why are you on a plane? I thought you were afraid of flying.

  KC: I am!

  KC: or I WAS ;)

  KC: it was scary at first, but after the first part it’s not so bad!

  KC: of course I’ve been asleep the whole way :p

  EE: You have not answered my question.

  KC: what time is it?

  EE: How can you not know what time it is?

  KC: I’m asleep!

  EE: What?

  EE: Okay, it is almost 1 PM Eastern time.

  EE: But how are you texting me if you are asleep?

  EE: And even if you were, would you not be able to ascertain the time from your phone?

  KC: the clock function doesn’t work here :\

  EE: On the airplane?

  EE: Actually, never mind. We have other matters to discuss.

  KC: like what?

  EE: Like WHERE ARE YOU GOING ON A PLANE?

  KC: aaaaaaaahhhh! no need to shout!!!!

  KC: I should be almost to Chicago

  EE: Why are you going to Chicago?

  KC: so inquisitive!

  KC: I’m going to see Eric and Heidi of course!

  EE: And why else?

  KC: ?

  EE: You didn’t want to meet everyone until we could all be together.

  EE: Because of your stutter, remember?

  EE: Amongst other things.

  EE: So what is so important?

  EE: Does it have to do with angels?

  KC: !

  EE: Is Callie an angel?

  KC: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  EE: This must be one of our more typographically engaging conversations.

  KC: :D

  EE: I will just keep asking questions, then.

  KC: ;)

  EE: Does Isaac have an angel?

  KC: yes!

  KC: we all do!

  EE: And is someone else looking for these angels?

  KC: probably some

  KC: why did you ask about Isaac?

  EE: We just spoke. Apparently a strange man named Abraham Black appeared in Pikeston and killed people. He told Isaac he was looking for an angel.

  KC: oh noooo!

  KC: is Isaac okay??

  EE: I told you that we just spoke.

  KC: oh yeah, hehe

  KC: whew!

  EE: He was worried about you.

  KC: aawwwww

  EE: He was probably concerned in a way that ought to elicit more than “aawww.”

  KC: ?

  KC: ...

  KC: !!

  KC: Liz! just what are you implying?

  EE: Isaac also told me that Jim was recently in danger. He is next on my list of friends to check in on. According to Isaac, his house blew up.

  KC: oh I knew about that

  KC: Jim’s fine, though! Don’t worry, Liz! I was just talking to him earlier

  EE: I thought his phone was destroyed.

  KC: oh yeah it is

  KC: and also all of his paintings and stuff

  KC: :(

  KC: did you know he was making special paintings for all of us for his birthday? it was supposed to be a secret, but they all got blown up so i don’t think Jim will mind me telling you

  EE: If his phone was blown up, how were you talking to him?

  EE: And how are you typing so fast?

  KC: I’m not typing fast

  EE: You are replying instantaneously.

  KC: I am?

  KC: :o

  KC: thanks Liz! another data point for the logbook!

  KC: hehehe

  EE: I should start a logbook to keep track of the things you say which require explanation.

  EE: I’m with somebody right now, so I will get back to you later. I think Isaac is going to start up a group text between all of us.

  KC: but you’ve already been talking in the group text

  EE: What?

  KC: oh

  KC: oooohhhhhhh okay

  KC: Liz you’re being so helpful right now you don’t even know!!!

  EE: You are correct, at least, on that last part.

  KC: yeah I think Isaac is probably about to do that

  KC: heheheh

  KC: oh! before you go, do you still have your birthday gift from me?

  EE: Of course. Which one?

  KC: the butterfly

  KC: do you have it with you?

  EE: It’s at home.

  KC: maybe you should go get it

  EE: Maybe, huh? I guess it’s not really important, though, correct? I am sure I could probably just forget about it and everything would be just fine, yes?

  KC: llliiiiiiiiiiiizzzzzzzzzzyyyyyyyyyyyy

  KC: well maybe

  KC: but I worry about you too!

  EE: Okay.

  KC: see you soon!

  KC: ;)

  EE: Bye.

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  EE: Wait, what?

  But Kate did not respond. Liz sighed as she put her phone to sleep and slipped it back into her pocket. Speaking to Kate was ever an exercise in knowing what weird things she said to just ignore. In retrospect it may have been a good idea to write them all down anyway, for future reference.

  She checked on her new companions. Elmer had regained his appetite and had nearly finished with both his plate and Amelia’s. Amelia appeared to be napping with her head on her arms, facedown on the table.

  “Thanks for waiting,” said Elizabeth.

  “No trouble at all,” he said as he wiped his face and moustache clean. He delicately stacked the plates onto a single tray, then stacked the trays. “Now I do hate to be a bother, but about the angel. May we…see it?” He folded his hands in front of him and gazed at her with an air of pleasant expectation.

  “Her name is Callie,” said Elizabeth. “What exactly do you want with her?”

  “Well the same as you, naturally!” said Elmer with a chuckle. “To escape!”

  “Escape? Escape what?”

  “Why, the end of the world.” He said this with a smile, but otherwise appeared perfectly serious. He was really beginning to strain Elizabeth’s suspension of disbelief.

  “Okay,” said Elizabeth after a moment of consideration. She did not believe the world was about to end. Even if it was true, she simply wouldn’t, couldn’t, believe something like that. But hadn’t Kate been hinting at something bad about to happen? And Jim too? But the actual end of the world…surely it was an exaggeration. Elmer was the theatrical type, after all.

  In any case, it was clear to her that Elmer and Amelia harbored no ill intentions, and even if they did, Elizabeth doubted they would be able to harm Callie or otherwise compel her to do anything. Furthermore, any encounter between them was likely to shed further light on the situation. “I’ll have to get her from my house,” she said. “Where are you staying?”

  “Staying?” asked Elmer in puzzlement.

  “The Circle 8 Motel,” said Amelia from her position face-down on the table. “Although I didn’t notice very many circles. Certainly not eight of them.”

  “Yes, of course!” said Elmer. “But we’ll accompany you, naturally, to your house. Do you by chance possess…a motorcar?” He practically vibrated in place with excitement. “Could I drive it?”

  “You can’t drive, Elmer,” said Amelia without moving. “You have proven so twice. We would be in a lot of debt if the world weren’t about to end. Or if they could find us.”

  “Um, no, sorry,” said Elizabeth. “I rode my bike here. You’d have to walk all the way back to my house…”

  “Capital!” exclaimed Elmer, leaping to his feet and gaining only a few inches of height in doing so. “A walk under the beautiful skies! Come, Amelia, the weather ought to be perfect by now.” He hooked an arm under Amelia’s elbow and attempted to hoist her to her feet, but he was not tall enough to do so. She stood on her own, unfolding upwards like a grim scarecrow, but she left his arm around hers.

  Liz took their trays to the garbage bin and then led them to the front of the mall. She halted before the glass entrance. Outside, where there had been sunny blue skies when she arrived only a couple of hours before, a light drizzle sprinkled down from a slate-grey sky. “I knew I heard thunder,” she said as Elmer and Amelia joined her. “It wasn’t supposed to rain today!”

  “Apologies,” said Elmer. “It was Amelia’s idea.”

  Elizabeth looked sideways at them. “What?”

  “It’ll take some time to clear up…” said Elmer as though in speculation. “Or we could walk in the rain. I would not be bothered by it!”

  “I didn’t bring an umbrella…” Elizabeth shook her head. Whatever. She didn’t mind walking in the rain either. “Let’s go.” She led them out and over to the bike rack where she unlocked her bike. It was soaked, but that didn’t matter. Apparently, she was going to walk it home.

  Elmer and Amelia stood by, waiting for her. Elmer gazed at the bike as though fascinated. Amelia stood off to the side, holding a grey umbrella straight up beside her. She reminded Elizabeth of Mary Poppins.

  “Where did you get the umbrella?” Elizabeth asked as she walked the bike up to them. Elizabeth was sure Amelia hadn’t had one before.

  “Would you like one?” she asked. Amelia reached out with her free hand and traced lines through the air in front of her as though drawing something. Light glimmered in the empty air, and in moments a number of shimmering filaments formed the outline of an umbrella. Then, in an instant, it filled in with color. Yellow. Bright lemon yellow.

  The umbrella hung in the air in front of Amelia until she grabbed hold of its handle and offered it to Elizabeth. Elizabeth took it with caution. The handle was smooth and cool. It felt like hard plastic, or maybe glass. Every part of the umbrella was made of this same material, and every part was fixed and inflexible. The whole thing weighed almost nothing. And it was so. very. yellow. Like a sunflower. The color glared against the drab overcast day.

  “My, what a nice color!” said Elmer, not appearing to notice or care as his dark hair became matted from the soft rain.

  “Um. Thank you,” said Elizabeth softly. She should have expected something like this. Really, she knew that impossible things were possible. She had always known, because Callie had always been with her. But just seeing someone create an umbrella out of nothing…

  They watched her expectantly.

  “This…this way,” Elizabeth said. She began wheeling the bike away with one hand, holding the umbrella in the other.

  “Please! Allow me,” said Elmer. He came up beside her and took the bike.

  “No riding it, Elmer,” said Amelia.

  They crossed the parking lot and began following the highway. On the other side of the highway lay a forest, and Elizabeth’s house waited up in the hills. “It’s a few miles,” she told them. “It’ll take an hour, maybe, walking.” It usually took her only ten minutes on her bike.

  They soon crossed the highway and began their trek up a paved road leading back into the woods. Eventually they would leave it for the long dirt driveway to the Eddison house. Elizabeth, either on some instinct or out of unease from Isaac’s news about a madman in Montana, glanced behind her, back at the mall and its parking lot still visible beyond the highway. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, unless you counted the stout, bearded man in a grey coat, smoking a pipe. He was facing her general direction, but he wore dark glasses and might have been observing the forested hills or the peculiar weather. Elizabeth thought that perhaps she had seen him before. Did he live in town? He turned and strolled away through the parking lot, getting damp from the rain. Elizabeth watched him for a moment before deciding not to be concerned. She turned and led Elmer and Amelia up the road.

  It really was a beautiful day. The smell of the rain in the forest brought out so many other scents: the pine, the asphalt, the dark mulch of the earth. It reminded Elizabeth of times she had spent playing with AJ and Callie when she was younger, running around in the forest. The low, dark sky was beautiful too. The world seemed dim and close and warm, despite the cool fresh breeze. It made her heart ache with a longing, somehow, for that which already surrounded her.

  It inspired a poem. Usually when she had sudden inspiration she would record it at once on her cell phone, but she was embarrassed to do so in front of Elmer and Amelia. They chattered to each other a few steps behind her, keeping to the side so that the few passing cars could get through.

  It was time to call Jimothy. Or Michael, rather. She dialed the number.

  Michael picked up almost immediately. “Hello? Is this Elizabeth?”

  Elizabeth paused, surprised. “Were you expecting my call?”

  “Nah, it’s just your number is different from AJ’s but not by much. I guess you want to talk to Jim?”

  “Um. Yeah. Yes.”

  Michael laughed. “I’ve been the Jim hotline today. I should just give him my phone.”

  “Wait!”

  “What?”

  “First, just tell me what happened. I heard…your house got blown up?” She couldn’t help but feel stupid saying that, but she had to ask.

  “Not really, just set on fire. Well, part of it blew up first, I guess. That’s what started the fire. Yeah.” He seemed awfully conversational.

  “Sounds like it hasn’t quite sunk in yet.”

  “Yeah. Still feels like a dream.”

  “Where are you?”

  “We’re in a little town out in the middle of nowhere. I guess we’re in Nevada now. Hey, how’s AJ?”

  Elizabeth smiled. “What do you mean?”

  “Well, do you know about the painting she found? Of Jim’s?”

  “Yes.” AJ had shown it to her. It was Jim’s, no doubt about it.

  “I guess that means she’s involved somehow too. Maybe? I don’t know.”

  Elizabeth’s smile continued. She considered giving Mike a hard time about being concerned for AJ, but wasn’t she doing just the same thing by checking in on Jim? “She’s taking a nap at our house. Also you have her number; if you’re so worried you can call her yourself.”

  “Hey, you called me. I’ll go get Jim.”

  Elizabeth swung the yellow umbrella back and forth overhead as she walked. She felt a strong urge to sing. Singing in the Rain? Umbrella? Of course. But not while on the phone!

  “Hello?” said an instantly recognizable voice. Jim’s voice was just barely far enough removed from normal speech patterns to indicate that something was off. It was a little slurred, a little shaky, a little broken. You could tell he knew the words he wanted to say, but they all got caught up on the way out.

  “Jimothy? It’s Elizabeth.”

  “Hi, Elizabeth! This is Jimothy.”

  Elizabeth almost laughed.

  “Hey,” said Jimothy before she could continue. “You like riddles right?”

  “…yes?”

  “I have a riddle. I can’t remember where I heard it, but it’s been bothering me.”

  “Okay. Shoot.”

  “It goes kind of like this: ‘No blindness but our sight, no beginning but the end, no darkness but the light, no enemies but our friends.’ What do you think?”

  A descriptive riddle, not a question. It was interesting, but she didn’t care at the moment. “I’ll think about it,” she assured Jim. “I called to make sure you were okay.”

  “Oh, thanks! I’m okay. Well…”

  “Well?”

  “I mean, my house is gone. And my paints, and all the stuff I was working on. And my bed. And my books. And…” A tremor began to creep into Jim’s voice as he spoke. He sniffed. “I shouldn’t be sad. I’m with Mike, which I guess is what matters. But…Hazel…” He sniffled again, and his voice began to break. “Hazel is…” He couldn’t finish. “Sorry, Elizabeth.”

  Hearing Jim cry created a pain in Liz’s chest. She swallowed, and something like a knife twisted at the back of her throat. Jimothy was easily upset, sometimes by simple things like a very wrong clock or furniture rearranged without his knowledge. Mike knew them all of course, the things that bothered Jim. Jim knew that he got easily upset sometimes; he was aware of it and embarrassed about it.

  In a flash of inspiration, Elizabeth realized that maybe this meant Jimothy didn’t know when it was actually okay to cry about something. She spoke to him: “Don’t be sorry, Jimothy. Jim. I would cry if something happened to Callie. It’s okay to cry.”

  Jimothy cried. Elizabeth wished she could be there next to him instead of three time zones away. She wondered if the Line would help at all. She wished she knew more about what exactly it was. It was some kind of mental boundary that helped Jim keep his feet in reality. Kate seemed to understand it.

  Jimothy’s tears soon subsided. He laughed a little. “I hope Mike doesn’t mind his phone getting wet. I think Mike is doing okay.”

  “I’m glad he’s looking out for you.”

  “Yeah. He always knows what to do. I hope someday I can be like him.”

  Sooner or later every conversation with Jim became heartwarming. “What’s he doing now?” asked Elizabeth. “What will you do next?”

  “Mike’s out taking pictures now,” said Jim. “His camera was in the car, which is lucky.”

  “He takes good pictures.”

  “Yeah. He says he can’t draw like me, so he takes pictures instead.”

  “Well. Do you know what the word ‘photography’ means, Jimothy?”

  “No. What?”

  “It means ‘drawing with light.’ Because it’s the light that lets the picture get taken. So, you and Mike both draw.”

  “Wow! I like that. Drawing with light.”

  “Yeah…” Something rang in Elizabeth’s memory, and she looked up at the yellow umbrella blotting out most of the grey sky above. She glanced back at Amelia and Elmer. Elmer was enthusiastically showing Amelia a pinecone. Drawing with light.

  “Okay, Jim, one last thing. Have you seen any white animals with no eyes?”

  “You mean like Callie? No.”

  “Just checking. You should let me know if you do see one, okay?”

  “All right.” He sniffed. “Thanks, Elizabeth.”

  “Come on, Jimothy, I’ve told you to call me Liz.”

  “Well, you call me Jimothy. That’s my whole name.”

  “I like your whole name.”

  “Well I like your—”

  “Okay, I get it.”

  “It sounds smart and sophisticated, like you.”

  “Oh yeah? Well ‘Jimothy’ is fun and unique, like you.”

  “Haha, okay…so I’ll add you to the list of people I need to call right away if anything happens.” This made Elizabeth smile.

  “Put me at the top,” she said. “Something is afoot, Jimothy.”

  “Eric said something like that. And he told me that you…”

  “That I…?”

  “Umm. Uh, actually he didn’t.”

  “What? He didn’t what?”

  “Sorry, Elizabeth. I’m trying to be careful not to say what Eric told me not to tell you.”

  “Okay, Jim. I’ll hang up now, okay?”

  “Yeah, that’s good. Thanks. Thanks for calling!”

  “It was nice talking to you. Farewell!”

  “Bye!”

  Elizabeth hung up and assessed her surroundings. During the conversation she had turned off the paved road and onto the long driveway without realizing. About a mile to go from here. Elmer and Amelia still followed behind her: one looking up at the sky with a big smile and the other gazing downward, looking troubled. So opposite.

  For some reason, she now felt no embarrassment about singing in front of them. So, compelled by the close woods and dark, rainy day, she began to sing.