Forty-Four Box Set, Books 1-10 (44) (15 page)

My stomach tensed. That last word sent a chill through my body.

“Mostly?” I asked.

“Yeah. You didn’t come back all the way.”

That was true. I hadn’t come back whole. I wasn’t completely in this world anymore. Not like I used to be.

“You’re an
in-betweener
,” he said. “That’s what they call you. Me too, right now anyway. Only from over here, the dead side.”

So there it was. Jesse was a ghost in my world and I was one in his, joined by love or friendship or something else, something deep that connected us through the darkness between the two sides.

“So, I’m not just imagining you?” I said again.

“No, I don’t think so,” he said. “But Dr. Krowe and your sister won’t believe it. Everyone has been trying to tell you about me being dead since you woke up in the hospital that night. But you never believed them, so they’ve been careful around you, trying to give you room to heal. When you started seeing Dr. Krowe, they were hoping that you would finally begin to understand what really happened that day. They thought that maybe going back to school would help too.”

I thought for a moment.

“But, Jesse, seeing you at school and other places didn’t help me accept your death,” I said. “I mean, in a way, I wasn’t wrong. How was I supposed to know you were dead?”

“Yeah, I know,” he said, tugging at his hat. “Sorry. I just slipped back into our old routine. It was just, I don’t know, natural I guess.”

“So that’s why you didn’t make the basketball team. On account of being dead and all,” I said.

He smiled.

“Yeah, that would be why. But I still practice sometimes with the guys. None of them can see me. Except that little munchkin Phillip. He can see me, but I scare him. He doesn’t try to talk to me or anything, but I catch him staring at me in horror sometimes.”

He laughed.

“And your dad that time in front of your house? He didn’t see you in the car, he just saw that I stopped by.”

“Yep,” he said. “He’s so sad all the time. It’s hard to see him like that. I need your help with him. Please tell him I’m okay.”

“Of course,” I said.

More and more pieces fit together about everything that had happened this past year. Why his dad hadn’t fixed the car, why he was gone from school snowboarding all the time, why I never saw him with Amanda.

Jesse was a ghost.

I heard the car door open behind us and turned to see Dr. Krowe and Kate making their way over to me.

“Do I tell them?” I asked.

“That’s up to you. But don’t expect too much. Dr. Krowe is a shrink, you know. That’s where he’ll look first. Your head.”

“Yeah, but he’s helped me a lot,” I said. “He helped me get here.”

“You have some good people around you. You’ll be okay now.”

He took my hand and squeezed it hard. My heart thundered in my chest.

“You’re staying, right, Jesse? Please stay. I can’t bear it without you. Please don’t go.”

“You don’t really need me anymore, Craigers. You have everything now to live a great life. And you will. I know it. And it’s going to be magnificent.”

He leaned over and kissed me, strong and full of passion. The kiss I’d been waiting for.

I heard soft footsteps on the gravel behind me. I turned to say hello.

When I turned back, Jesse was gone.

***

Dr. Krowe drove us back to town and nobody said anything.

When we had been standing by the lake, I told them that I remembered the accident and that Jesse had been killed. I didn’t mention that I had just spoken with his ghost.

It was emotional. Kate cried hard, told me they had tried to get me to understand for the first few months, but that I refused to believe it. I didn’t remember any of that, but I was pretty sure that those memories would be coming back soon, too.

As we drove, a strange thought crept in my mind. Jesse had said that the doctor had saved me, had brought me back to life. But I didn’t know which Mortimer brother he was talking about. I knew that Jesse would say it didn’t matter, to let all that go. But it mattered to me. I needed to know which one I owed my life to.

Kate still wasn’t speaking to Dr. Mortimer, but he continued to email me and even stopped by once like he used to, checking on my progress. I hoped we all could be friends again someday, that the tension would eventually melt away. I didn’t know if they would ever get back together, but I knew now that he really was a good man. Kate was right about that. And she deserved someone who could make her happy. Maybe with the summer coming. Good things always happened in the summer.

The sky was bright and cloudless and I imagined it looked like one of those perfect Bend days that I used to love so much. Big and blue, with a brilliant sun high and strong in the sky.

I knew Jesse would be back. And if not, I would go and find him.

Somehow.

Some way.

THE END

Forty-Four Book Two

by

Jools Sinclair

Copyright © 2011 Jools Sinclair

You Come Too Publishing

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in, or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical without the express written permission of the author. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events or locales is entirely coincidental.

For O.

Forty-Four Book Two

PROLOGUE

It had been more than a year since he had last seen her and his heart ached to be with her again.

The faint sound of drumming seeped across the dark land, invading his thoughts. It was nice though, exotic and gentle, and it soothed him, often lulling him into a light sleep. Sometimes he heard soft voices whispering, telling their stories around the campfires he smelled at night. He found this comforting too.

The day had been long, but not difficult. Basic. Doing the work they expected of him. Nothing special, nothing important.

Most of the time he was able to push away the thoughts of what he had lost. The life he knew. Her. But lately it seemed nearly impossible not to think about it all.

He found himself thinking of her throughout the day as he worked, and at night, always right before drifting off to sleep. He knew he just needed to relax, let the time stretch out a little more. They would be together. It was destiny. They were linked by something greater than both of them. Something that wouldn’t allow the vast space between their two worlds to keep them apart. He knew that in his heart and soul. This was all just temporary.

He needed to be more patient and wait for a sign when he could return.

He inhaled and looked up at the dull stars trying to shine through the thick band of haze. The yellow crescent moon kissed the dark sky. It was such a strange land. Dust coated everything, making the night look milky and unnatural.

He rubbed his throbbing temples and waited for sleep to take him. He closed his eyes and thought of her. Her hair, her eyes, her beauty. Her energy. He thought of the times he would walk along the river, breathing in the sweet aroma of the juniper and pine trees, staring at the striking snow-covered mountains in the distance.

They would find each other again, he told himself. They belonged together.

He awoke into the early morning heat, sweat already dripping down his face. He stood up and stared out at the horizon.

Night was always so odd here. Illusive, fast, half-dead. But in the early morning, something lifted. Life began again. The routines and chores of the day replaced the thoughts that ran rampant in the dark.

The large camp was coming to life. Women began cooking over small fires. Babies cried.

He still couldn’t shake her from his mind. He walked up to the small, muddy river and kneeled next to it, splashing his face with water.

At least he knew what she was doing in Bend. He had someone there, someone who was watching over her and who reported back to him. Someone who was his eyes and ears until he returned.

Two older men walked toward him on their way to the water for their morning prayers. The plight of the fool, he thought. Thanking this so-called higher power that turned a blind eye while they wallowed in poverty, war, and hunger.

“Good morning, Dr. Mortimer,” one of them said, flashing a toothless grin.

He smiled back.

He glanced back at the camp. There were so many here on the edge of death, so many who died every day. It had made his job easy. He could do his experiments without that messy part. He didn’t have to hurry them along. They presented themselves to him. Death was just a part of life for these people.

He still wasn’t able to replicate that success he had with her. He needed to get back and find out why his serum had only worked that one time. Why she was so special.

His heart fluttered thinking about her. This new emotion he now felt was strong. Powerful. He knew that together they could do incredible things. 

A group of young boys wandered down to the shore not far from where he stood, playing with an old soccer ball. It reminded him of her. She loved the game.

He wondered if it was a sign.

He shoved his hands in his pockets, squinting in the sun. A warm, happy feeling shot through him the more he thought about it.

Yes.

It was time to return.

CHAPTER 1

I took a deep breath, trying to relax.

“Come on, Abby, you can do this,” Ty whispered in my ear as the rest of the group headed up the ridge to scout the rapids. I walked slowly behind them. “You’ve trained for it a long time and you’re more than ready. Just loosen up a little.”

Ty’s shiny, light eyes beamed into mine like he was trying to telepathically shoot me confidence or something. I smiled, battling the bile that came up and stung the back of my throat.

“Thanks,” I said.

“You’re a great guide,” he said in a low voice right before we reached the people waiting on the trail by the river. “Hell, I taught you, of course you’re good. But you’re a natural too. You’ll do fine on this next one.”

It wasn’t like this was my first time down the river with the tourists. I had been out here all week. But the first run of the day still shook me up a little.

At the very least I knew I needed to hide my fear better. If Ty could see that I was nervous, my group probably could as well.

I pulled down my sunglasses and walked up to them, six somber Japanese tourists, staring at the whitewater with worried faces. I could see that they were really scared. Dark gray bands of energy hung over them as they stood stiffly next to Ty’s rowdy teenagers.

I forced a smile, hoping it would help. They nodded politely.

I knew Ty was right about me being a natural on the river. I wasn’t sure why, but I was pretty good at reading the water and finding the right channels to shoot through, avoiding whirlpools and boulders and downed trees. I had trained for weeks in the spring and beat out more than a dozen other applicants who had been competing for the summer job.

“Okay,” Ty said in a loud voice that echoed off the trees and rocks. “Let me have your attention.”

I stood next to him as he started talking, the strong smell of the piña colada
sunscreen that he always slathered on his arms filling my nostrils.

“This here is Big Eddy, a quarter-mile stretch of continuous Class II and Class III plus rapids. This section is the most intense part we’ll do out here today, but it’s also the most fun.”