Hadrian's Wall (54 page)

Shut up! Those beautiful
creatures’ blazing eyes emanate electricity in frequency and
intensity that is completely distinct from each other. I was
terrible at physics classes, but if I wanted to understand how it
worked, I would have to find a way to overcome my educational
deficiencies. One thing was certain—the tingling in my hand could
not be all in my head!

“Adrian asked me
to give this to you
.”
Stephen retrieved something from his pocket and held out his open
hand to me.

“A phone?” I muttered in
amazement. I wasn’t expecting that. The cornucopia of gifts had not
ended? I decided that this time I couldn’t accept it...and this
time, I had to be firm! His generosity was accumulating with
expensive gifts using Machiavellian strategies in such a way that I
could not refuse without feeling guilty.
But now it was too much!

I began to shake my head,
but Stephen had cleverly anticipated my reaction. “It’s so he can
locate you, talk with you...and for you to call him when you need
him.”

This was a good argument,
was this not? Indeed, the appropriate argument. Of course I want
Adrian to be able to locate me and the fact that he’d sent me the
phone meant that he hadn’t forgotten me.

“My number is also recorded there in the
speed dial, if you need to talk to me.”

“Why do I need this if
you’re always around me?” I made a circular gesture with my index
finger, holding the phone in my other hand.

He laughed.

“Yes, but I don’t talk to
you. Unless you want me to look like a lunatic talking to thin air
when I need to talk to you.”

He uncrossed his arms and
mimicked my gesture with his big hand. “Of course I can hear you
and certainly I’ll come to rescue you, but that will be nothing...a
discreet situation.”

“I see... As discreet as you were today?” I
noticed that he frowned, as if confused. “You were in my room
today, were you not?”

He was silent for a long moment, staring at
me. The dark blue irises were becoming yellowish again...a sign
that he was angry. Stephen looked at the sky and then quickly
replaced his sunglasses.

“No, it was not me. What happened in your
room?” he asked in a dangerously soft monotone.

I couldn’t understand what
he was asking me. How was he not there?

“I...I was just leaving my
room. I heard a noise...a muffled sound...like someone walking
across the room, so I went back, but there was nobody there.
Everything was in place,
except… I
had
locked the window and when I looked
again, the leaves were brushing against it.”

He nodded as if he had
understood, even though I didn’t get it. His jaw tightened when he
spoke. “Listen, Melissa, I usually don’t spy on people in the
privacy of their room unless there’s imminent danger. If you’re
changing your clothes or using the bathroom...I couldn’t stay
there, watching. It would be rude. Moreover, Adrian would tear my
head off.” He rolled his eyes. “I usually cover the perimeter and
yes, I stay ‘around you’ as you say, but the person who sneaked
into in your room today wasn’t me.”

“If it wasn’t you, could it
have been Adrian?” I ventured, hoping he’d say yes. He shook his
head.

“Adrian isn’t in town now.
Moreover...” He stopped, embarrassed. “Forget it, you wouldn’t
understand. You need to know one thing: If Adrian had crossed my
perimeter, I would have felt it.”

“Whoever it is, how did
they get in without anyone noticing?” I didn’t say “without you
noticing” so it wouldn’t sound like a criticism of his professional
competence, but it wasn’t necessary because he reproached
himself.

“I have failed.” The proud head dropped a
little while he contemplated an imaginary point among the trees. “I
was too confident. I forgot that one of us could become more
determined, not caring about the rules or my reputation.”

“One of us?”

He smiled brightly. His sudden change left
me baffled. I thought he was trying to distract me.

“I have my suspicions, but
it’s nothing you should worry about. It will never happen
again.”

“Are you sure?” I asked, puzzled.

He was very serious now. “Yes, I am.”

“And...what is this reputation that you
have?” I swallowed hard.

“Melissa, there’s something
you need to know about me.” He opened his strong arms as if to
reinforce what he was about to say. “And I’ll tell you this, just
so you’ll feel absolutely confident about that.”

“
What?”
I asked anxiously.

He gave me an evil grin.

“The one who mocked my security scheme
challenged me personally. This is something I cannot tolerate. With
your permission, I would like to enter your bedroom to look for
some clues.”

“O-okay...” I stammered.
Only then did
I realize that he had dodged my question.

I couldn’t insist that he
answer my question because at that moment Delilah approached us to
return his phone. I excused myself and moved away, leaving them
alone and so I could hide my new cell phone in my pocket without
being seen. I didn’t want to provide Delilah with any reason to
bombard me with more indiscreet questions.

Minutes later I heard
Stephen’s voice.

“Let’s go, girls,” he said,
pointing to his pickup. Whatever they talked about, they returned
looking like it was something serious.

Delilah sighed. Sally did
too, but I believe they sighed for different reasons. Delilah was
looking at Stephen—a mixture of suffering and worship.
Sally was obviously
worshipping his F-150.

19

FRESHMANLAND

On the drive back to
McPherson House, all I could think about was Delilah’s pathetic
behavior. Throughout the trip, she chattered, chattered and
chattered...in an effort to keep Stephen more attentive to her than
the road, or us.
The word “verbose” fit her
perfectly.

What she didn’t realize
was that he had shuttered himself in silence. His occasional sighs
clearly demonstrated how upset he was and how much he wanted
Delilah to shut up. However, nothing fazed her.
I concluded that the gloomier he got, the more it drove her
crazy.

A blessed silence had finally settled over
the interior of the pickup by the time we stopped at the front
entrance. I breathed a sigh of relief. I thought I heard Sally sigh
too. Fearing that Delilah would notice, I ventured a glance and saw
silent tears sliding down her cheeks. I took a peek at Stephen, who
was frowning even more than before, if that was possible. I almost
felt sorry for Delilah...almost!

Keyra McPherson was
waiting for us on the porch. Stephen asked to Delilah and Sally to
go on ahead, but Delilah would not allow herself to be dismissed so
easily. She slowed her pace, obviously for the purpose of listening
to our conversation. Realizing this, Sally became exasperated and
started to hurry her along, not at all concerned that she was being
obvious.
Like Sally, I’d heard enough of
her bizarre prattle. Between that any all of the other bizarre
events of the day, It was too much for me to deal with in one day.
I started to follow them, but Stephen stopped me.

“I felt it,” said
Mrs.
McPherson
as
Stephen approached her. “And I’m as outraged as you should be. Who
would dare invade my domain?” She looked me from behind her
photochromic lenses. Her irises were like two balls of fire, poorly
disguised by the shading.

“Someone who knows us. Someone from
inside...” Stephen replied softly. She nodded in agreement.

He gestured for us to precede him, pointing
the way. We headed inside, but he stopped me and suggested that I
find something to do away from my room. “No matter what, stay away
until I say you can go in there.” Without any further explanation
or waiting for my consent, he quickly disappeared down the
corridor.

Mmmm
... Stephen was becoming too bossy to suit me.
I had a right
to know
what was happening. After all, it was my room! I decided to follow
them; however, Mrs.
McPherson
suddenly blocked my path when I approached the
door.

“Why you don’t take a
relaxing bath, baby?” she gently suggested.

I raised my eyebrows. “My personal
belongings and my pouch bag are inside,” I replied, trying to
justify my reason for entering.

Suddenly, someone nearby
said something, distracting her. It was only a matter of seconds,
but long enough for me to slip past her. Before she could stop me,
I opened the door in time to catch sight of Stephen on the
windowsill.
In an impossible pose, his feet
were firmly on the tip of the wood and his body canted slightly
forward, perfectly balance.
He looked like
an amazingly realistic statue.

He was sniffing the wood! My untimely
appearance in the doorway startled him. His eyes turned incredibly
yellow, but he kept a straight face. He gave a little hop,
straightened himself up, and came to us.

“Everything’s okay?”
Mrs.
McPherson
asked.

He nodded and put on his
glasses. “I found a clue. Putting this together with the
trace
not
left
at
the Skull Rock
,
I’d say that I have enough to get
started.”
He
held his hand up to Mrs.
McPherson’s nose
. She
closed her eyes and inhaled deeply and then she turned to him with
a look of amazement.

Feeling a
little
silly, I looked
from one to the other. What was that—some kind of ritual? I hated
secret rituals, charades, and cryptic conversations. Reading my
face easily, Stephen made a comment that would give me food for
thought for a long time...

“I will not under-estimate
your intelligence.” He raised his other hand and gently pinched my
cheek. “But I have no time to waste on explanations. I’m sure that
being the good observer that you are, you will find the answers for
what you just saw.”

Keyra McPherson sniffed
loudly, as if giving him a warning. Stephen raised his
eyebrows,
not at all sensitive to her
warning.

“I don’t know if I want to
hear an explanation,” I muttered.

Stephen grinned. His smile widened and then
he started laughing. “I have to acknowledge the corn. Any other
girl in your place would have been freaked out!”

I rolled my eyes. “So now
you don’t hate me anymore?” I asked in a cheeky tone.

He took my comment literally and stopped
laughing.

“I never hated you. Ever! I
just didn’t know if I could trust you. But when you defended
Delilah, even though she didn’t deserve it, in that moment, you
earned my trust. My instincts didn’t deceive me. You are a loyal
person by nature.” He raised his hand when I tried to protest. “I
know, I know! She had no idea that the party involved a ‘small dip’
in the lake, but she didn’t need to push it!” His expression became
a little sad when he gazed at me.

“Unfortunately, there’s a
lot in play...aspects of our lives here in Hadrian’s Wall that you
don’t know, but you will in due time, if you have patience and good
judgment. Until then, ‘discretion’ is the watchword.”

With a grin, Mrs.
McPherson
called Stephen
and they left the room.

I stood there in the middle
of my room, totally freaked out. They had left me alone to digest
the information. Super! I could hear the ticking of the bomb ready
to explode over my head. I took a deep breath, ready to scream.
Just one thought could stop the hysterical picture that was
forming: In the midst of that mess, I had earned Stephen’s
confidence and that was a good thing, wasn’t it?

After I’d
calmed down, I checked the time on my PDA. I had
missed the party, but by no means would I miss my first dinner at
the
famous McPherson
House, but according to the schedule that I saw on the
bulletin board, dinner was to be served until 5:30 p.m. I had
plenty of time to organize my things, take a shower...in short, do
things like normal people do! I glanced at the drawing board, still
in its original package. Before I could
begin
setting it up, I heard a soft
knock at my door.

Delilah didn’t wait for
permission to enter. I knew that she’d been crying when I saw her
red, swollen eyes and blotchy face. I noticed that she had changed
clothes, but it was just a variation of the same black outfit. She
leaned against the door and stared at me in a weird way.

“What did Stephen tell you?” She got
straight to the point.

I started to open the packaging of the
drawing board model, mentally counting to ten... pulling the
cardboard open, I tried to unfold the support legs. With a sigh,
Delilah approached and started to help me.

“Did he say anything...about me?” she
asked.

“Why would he?”

“C’mon!”

“If you want answers, you
have to give me something too. What’s your relationship with
Stephen?”