Everybody's Daughter (5 page)

“Wait.” He motioned for her to be quiet.

“For what?”

“I thought I heard someone.” He pushed Connie away, putting his ear to the opening of the tunnel. He heard a voice again, what sounded like a plea for help. “Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

“A voice in the tunnel.” He took a couple of steps down. “Is that you, Leah?”

Connie bent over and listened. “I don’t hear anything.”

“Leah? Is that you?”

“You’re hearing things. It’s quiet down there.”

Michael came back up. “If I go down there, don’t let Elizabeth follow me.” He gripped her shoulders. “Look at me. Never let Elizabeth enter this tunnel.”

“You’re scaring me.”

“Make sure Elizabeth’s scared. Do not let her go down those steps under any circumstance. Do you understand?”

“All right. All right. I’ll keep her away from here.”

“Good.”

He thought he heard her mumble something about him needing to get a life as she climbed up the stairs. “Have fun down here. You are taking this church thing way too seriously.”

Connie’s steps grew fainter. His gaze remained transfixed on the tunnel’s opening. He took three steps down and lifted the cross to his lips and kissed it.

His knees weakened and he fell, holding onto the top step with his hand. His mind left his body for a few moments. He reached for his cell phone but he couldn’t move his arms, forgetting he’d left it at home.

Looking up, he gasped at the reflection he saw in the lone basement window. His eyes shone a bright fluorescent green. Red and orange flames licked his arms. His throat raged with warmth. He heard a voice again. The muffled words were like a summer fly buzzing near his ear.

“Leah, is that you?” He put his ear to the ground. “Elizabeth? My God, you didn’t go down there, did you? Talk to me? Who is it?”

“There is no pain here. I miss you,” the soft voice fluttered in his head.

“What’s happening?” he said. “My legs. I can’t feel my legs.” But the words weren’t audible as he strained to yell. “Something’s wrong.”

He could feel himself being pulled into the tunnel. He grabbed his chest and gasped for air. “I’m having a stroke. Someone … help me.”

Elizabeth ignored her throbbing foot and forgot about her bike in Matt’s trunk. She headed straight for the front steps to the house. She noticed Connie’s car was still in the driveway.
Where’s Dad’s car?
She examined the living room and hallway and shot her head out the door, smiling one last time at Matt, who was watching from the curb. “Wait one second, okay,” she said with a wave.

He nodded.

“Dad? Are you home?” she called out instinctively, waiting for him to respond. There was no answer.

She sprinted up the stairs to the bathroom in search of eyeliner. She found it unopened in the top drawer and hobbled over to the mirror. She pulled her socks off, one of which was bloody and dropped it in a laundry basket.

She washed and bandaged her foot, brushed her hair and straightened her shirt. She didn’t want to look like she had tried
too
hard. She admired herself one last time in the mirror.

The eyeliner looks real good
.

She ran to her room and determined her father was in it recently.
I wonder what he was looking for now?
She walked further and peered out the window. She was relieved to see Matt still outside, waiting in the car.

She decided to take her glasses off, leaving them on the bookshelf. Then she opened her dresser drawer and rummaged in the back until she found a small box containing a gold locket. She paused a moment and clasped it around her neck, making sure it was clearly visible.

She took a quick look in her father’s bedroom before heading down to the kitchen and finding his note on the fridge. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Church? Again?”

Noticing his cell phone still plugged into the wall, she snatched it up before going outside, locking the front door behind her.

She leaned her head through the passenger side window. “Can you give me a ride to church?”

“Yeah, sure. But what about your bike?”

“I’ll get it later. Do you mind?”

“No, no problem.”

He waited until she buckled her seat belt before backing out of the driveway. As he put the car in drive, he remained focused on the road.

There was an awkward silence. Elizabeth realized that he might have misinterpreted her request. “Oh, we’re not going to a
service
or anything. It’s just that my dad left his cell phone on the counter and I should tell him where we’re going.”

“Your father goes to church on Saturdays?”

“Well, yeah. He goes to church a lot of days.”

Matt gave her an odd look as he paused to make the left onto Waterside Avenue. “Really. Is he a religious nut or something?”

She sighed.
Great. Now he thinks my dad is a freak.
“Not at all.”

“Then why does he go to church a lot?”

“He does a lot of volunteering. And today he’s doing some community service thing.” Elizabeth kicked her backpack with her good foot, wondering why she hadn’t left it at home.

“So he just likes being there?”

“Forget it. You wouldn’t understand.”

“Hey,” he said with a smile, tapping her gently on the shoulder. “Is that a nice thing to say to someone who’s giving you a lift?”

“No, it totally isn’t.” She giggled. “Sorry about that.”

“No harm done.”

The curbs on Main Street were lined with cars. Matt looked relieved to see no one was coming up behind him. He parked the car about twenty yards from the main entrance.

“Wait here,” Elizabeth said, opening the door and sprinting to the sidewalk.

“Hey, can I meet your dad?”

Elizabeth ran back a few steps toward the car. “Not today. Maybe another time, okay?”

“I guess.” He shrugged. “You know, I’d like to meet him someday. Does he even know who I am?”

Elizabeth nodded at him, smiling. She saw her father’s Toyota and wondered if she should leave a note. The front passenger side door was unlocked. As she pulled it open, the glove compartment door swung down.

“Geez, he still hasn’t fixed this thing,” she said in frustration.

She put the cell phone in the compartment and slapped at the door but it fell down again. A few Christmas CDs, a ballpoint pen, and the phone slid to the floor.

Annoyed, she slammed it hard again, pinching her little finger as it shut. “Oh great.” She pulled her hand back and some blood hit the floor mat.

She rummaged through the glove compartment for a tissue. She found one and wiped her bloody finger, then tossed it on the floor.

I’ll just go give him his phone.

She pocketed the phone and slammed the car door, then raced by a handful of parked cars before crossing the street in front of the church. She noticed Matt had gotten out of his car and was now leaning against the bumper, watching her.

Elizabeth jogged through the front doors of the church, expertly weaving around the people working in the foyer. Some were handing each other boxes and stacking them up against a wall, while others organized cans of food on a table that had several empty Thanksgiving baskets at one end.

Squinting, she scanned the group of people and searched for her dad.
Great.
She couldn’t see a thing and fumbled around in her coat pockets before remembering she had left her glasses at home. She could hear him saying,
“I told you to always carry your glasses. Someday you’ll need them. What were you trying to do, impress a boy by not wearing them?”

She walked toward the table with the baskets. “Elizabeth?” a familiar voice called.

Elizabeth looked over her shoulder, surprised to see her aunt. “Aunt Connie? What are you doing here?”

Connie walked into the foyer through the doors leading from the nave of the church. She put down a box filled with cans before hugging Elizabeth. “Stay with me, okay? I’m helping out. Are you looking for your dad?”

“Yeah. Where is he?”

“Downstairs. But he’s acting weird.”

“Weird? What do you mean?”

“He was talking strange at first. I couldn’t understand him. Is he taking a language course?”

“No.”

“And then he drank some holy water too. Your dad is spending way too much time in church.”

“He drank holy water?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, no. Something’s happened.”

Elizabeth rushed through the doors and into the main church.

“Come back here. Your dad told me to make sure you stay upstairs. Elizabeth, don’t you dare go down in that basement.”

Elizabeth hurried down the main aisle before cutting through a row of pews to her left. She stopped short in front of the basement door, sighed, then grabbed the handle with both hands, and pulled it open.

“Dad?”

She waited a moment, noticing how he neglected to light the stairway. Even so, the high ground floor window in the basement provided enough sunlight for her to see piles of canned foods stacked neatly on the floor below.

“Dad?” she called out again.

She went down the first few steps, certain that he would be where she always found him, sitting in a corner looking at the floor. But when Elizabeth reached the bottom of the stairs, her eyes widened in surprise.

The tunnel door was open and her father was nowhere to be seen.

Shocked, she ran two steps up the stairs and was met by Connie.

She grabbed Elizabeth’s arm. “Come back up here.”

“The tunnel’s there!”

Connie clutched her arm tighter. “Quiet,” she whispered. “Someone will hear you.”

“The tunnel is open.” Elizabeth squirmed out of her aunt’s grasp. “Follow me.” She dragged her aunt back toward the hole.

“I can’t help but follow you. Stop. Now.”

“C’mon, you have to see this.”

“I’ve seen it. Calm down.” Connie stopped abruptly. “What is wrong with your dad?”

“Auntie C, that’s what I’m talking about.
Look.”

“I’ve seen it. He told me to keep you away from it. So let’s go upstairs.”

“I can’t.” She tugged on her aunt’s arm again, trying to tow her toward the tunnel. “We’ve got to go after him.”

“No. He told me to keep you out of there. So stop. He’ll be back soon.”

A gust of wind pushed Connie back while the same breeze warmed Elizabeth’s body.

“This is incredible,” Elizabeth said.

“So what? It’s a root cellar. I’ve seen it. Nana Kehoe used to have one of these in her backyard.”

“No, it’s
definitely
not that. This leads to Jerusalem.”

“Not you too? Is this a joke you and your dad are playing on me?”

“No, this is no joke. He might be in danger.”

“Let’s go back upstairs. He’ll be back soon. I know your dad. He kids with me all the time.”

“No, no. I’m telling you, he could be in trouble. I know he told me not to say anything but I think he went back to Jerusalem.”

“Enough about Jerusalem. I know all about this nonsense. You’re acting like freaks. And I know what he told me. Stay out.” Connie’s hand caught on Elizabeth’s coat pocket. She hauled her a few yards away from the opening as Elizabeth struggled to break free. “No. One weirdo is enough in this family.” Her aunt let out an exasperated sigh, turned to the opening in the floor and yelled, “Hey, little brother. Get up here. Now. Your daughter thinks you’re in danger. C’mon. Stop jerking me around. The joke’s over.”

Connie stamped her foot on the top step leading into the tunnel and leaned down. “You hear me, little brother? I’m laughing at you.” She let out a raucous laugh. “Very funny. I know you’re playing a joke on me.”

“Auntie C, it’s not a joke. He’s been coming down here for the last few months, waiting for the tunnel to open and now it has and…and now…he’s…he’s gone, I know it.” She raised her voice. “He could get hurt. There are dangerous soldiers where he went.”

Connie released her grip and waved her hands like an umpire telling a base runner he was safe at home. “I’ve taken enough of this crap.”

“There are soldiers there.
”

Connie’s tone softened. “Oh, Elizabeth. I’m not mad at you. It’s just your dad and I like to tease each other. He used to play this trick on me when we were kids when I babysat him. He’d pretend to go somewhere in the house and disappear. Then when I would go looking for him, he’d jump out and scare me out of my wits.”

Connie walked back toward the stairway and put her arm around Elizabeth, half hugging and half guiding. “Your dad should be up shortly. Let’s go wait for him upstairs.”

“No. I can’t. I’m going to find him.” Elizabeth drew her breath in and out in short spurts. Her palms were sweaty. There was no way she was obeying her aunt. “I really think Dad might be in danger. It wasn’t so safe last time we were there. There was this soldier…uh, guy…who wanted to kill him.”

“Oh, come on.” Connie’s eyes shot up toward the ceiling. “Where is this so-called soldier?”

“It’s true. The soldier wanted me for his wife and Dad stopped him. I’m not lying. I’m not some small child telling a fairy tale. What did he do besides drink the holy water?”

“Why?” Connie asked.

“It’s important. Please tell me.”

“He put on one of those cassocks and a cross. He started talking all gibberish, a language I never heard of.”

“What kind of language?”

“Wasn’t French or Spanish, I know that for sure.”

“Oh, wow. He had to be going back.”

Connie gently rubbed Elizabeth’s shoulder. “You and your dad are playing one big joke on me and I don’t appreciate it.”

Elizabeth swatted at her aunt’s hand.

“Sorry, Aunt C. But my dad could be in trouble.”

“No. Stop!”

“Hey, what’s going on down there?” yelled the Pastor.

They both looked at each other as if they expected to receive detention. “Nothing, Pastor. Just me and Elizabeth straightening out the boxes.”

“Are you sure? Sounded like something’s wrong down there.”

“Not at all,” Connie said. “Just Auntie giving her beautiful niece a hand down here. We’ll be right up.”

“Okay,” the pastor said. “We need some more help with the truck outside. Hurry on up.”

“Coming,” Connie called up.

She turned toward Elizabeth. “Let’s go. Your dad loves playing these idiotic tricks on me. He feels he needs to pay me back after all these years. Big jerk.”

Elizabeth nodded. “Let me just clean up the mess here. Okay? The pastor will be upset with us if we leave it like this.” She started organizing the opened plastic cartons in a methodical fashion. “Go ahead. I’ll be right up.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

“Take this,” Elizabeth said, handing her the cell phone. “It’s Dad’s. He’ll be upset if I lost it or dropped it.”

“Alright.” Connie looked back, took a few steps toward the stairwell, and hesitated.

“Go on ahead, Aunt Connie. I’ll be right up.”

“You promise, right?”

“Have I ever broken a promise?”

Connie smiled. “No.”

Her shoes made a thumping sound on the stairs. Elizabeth listened for a moment. Then she fitted herself with a robe from one of the boxes and slipped on a pair of sandals. She grabbed one of the crosses attached to a chain, placing it around her neck.

Flames flickered, encasing her neck and she staggered backwards.

My throat. My legs.

She fell to the floor, gasping for air, clutching her chest.

“Oh, no. This isn’t supposed to be happening.” She coughed, feeling a sucking draft pulling her toward the tunnel. “Something’s wrong,” she said, but she couldn’t hear her own voice. “Somebody…anybody…Auntie C…help me.”