Priceless (4 page)

She shuffled away and I followed her in, breathing shallowly; trying not to think of all the possibilities for the smells. This was not good. Milly
and I were going to have to do something about this, no matter how hard it might be.
Giselle had raised the two of us; now we
’
d have to take care of her.
Scattered junk littered the floor, old newspaper, bags of groceries un-emptied and stacks of books to the ceiling
—
and those were just the things I could identify. It was worse every time I came.

The back kitchen was as full as the rest of the house, only I suspected this was where the majority of the bad smells
came
from.

Giselle dusted off a rickety gold chair
,
circa 1960
,
and I sat down. She pulled a green vinyl chair with rips in it close and grabbed my hand before I could even ask her, her eyes suddenly focusing,
as
an intelligence that hadn
’
t been there a moment before filled them.

Because I
’
m an Immune, even psychics can
’
t read me
;
it
’
s like I don
’
t exist. But I have lines in my hand and reading those lines isn
’
t really magic
. It
’
s more
like knowing how to read a map and understand all the symbols and variances.

“
Ah, little Rylee, you have big trouble coming your way. Always the same with you though.
”
She turned my hand first one way, then the other, her grip intense.

“
You will find someone, a man from your past
,
who
will become a part of your future.
”

“
You mean like a lover?
”
I hated the almost hopeful tone in my voice, the way it sounded, but I needed to be as clear as possible. A little romance never hurt anyone, but if it got in the way of finding India, or any other child for that matter, it wouldn
’
t matter how I felt about him.
In the back of my mind
,
I wondered if it was O
’
Shea and quickly pushed th
e
thought away. One kiss did not a lover make him.

“
Obsession.
”
She whispered the word and a cool wind wrapped around my ankles.
“
Death. Power. They are all tangled here
.
”
S
he pointed to the middle of my hand where indeed
,
there seemed to be several lines tangled about one another.
“
But you will also find your own past in this circle of three.
”

The house groaned as a gust of wind pummeled the barely standing structure. I shivered and Giselle did too.

“
You must go now. I have said enough for today. Where are you
r
blue socks
,
child?
”
Her eyes slid into vacancy once more
,
and I grabbed her hands, snagging her attention.

I asked her what I always asked.
“
The child I seek, will I find her in time?
”

Giselle
’
s eyes flickered and the intelligence returned
,
though I could see it waver
.
“
This child you seek, she is strong
;
you have time, I do not know if it will be enough
,
but you have time.
”

I stood to leave, pressing the stuffed elephant into her now empty hands. For all that she loved her stuffed animals, I never once saw one after I had left it with her, and I still had no idea what she did with them. I brought them now because it was one of the few times I got to see her smile.

“
Wait.
”

I froze in the hallway, Giselle
’
s voice drawing me back in.

“
There is another child, a child of golden sunshine and blue skies that seeks for you.
”

Every muscle in me tensed, my body paralyzed by the seer
’
s words. It couldn
’
t be what I thought, but I whispered her name without meaning to.

“
Berget.
”

The cold wind whipped through the house again, papers scattering about, a stack of books toppling over, and chaos ensued.

Giselle scrambled to her feet and rushed past me, caterwauling like a banshee about blue socks, her hair coming loose from her bun and the strands of it whipping about her face, obscuring her features
.
S
he attempted to right the things the wind demolished. It only made matters worse
;
for every pile she straightened, another fell, taking two more with it.

I shook myself free of the paralysis and reached out for Giselle, grabbing her by her bony shoulders
, shocked at how thin she
’
d become
.

“
Let me go
,
devil spawn! Blood seeker! Killer! Whore! Let me go!
”
I didn
’
t take the names personally. Though some were accurate. You can
’
t get too pissy when people are telling you the truth.

I hung onto her shoulders, steered her back into the kitchen and plunked her into the green chair. She went limp and a voice came softly to my ear.
“
Sing for her
,
child.
”
I didn
’
t look around; I knew it was one of her guides. They loved Giselle
,
and so I did what they said. I sang.

“
Trip upon trenchers, and dance upon dishes, my mother sent me for some barm, some barm; she bid me go lightly, and come again quickly, for fear the young men should do me some harm. Yet didn
’
t you see, yet didn
’
t you see, what naughty tricks they played on me? They broke my pitcher, spilt the water, cursed my mother, chided her daughter and kissed my sister instead of me
.
”

I trailed off, the old song from my childhood catching in my throat. They didn
’
t call it a melancholy tune for nothing.

“
So nice
,
dear. Perhaps you
’
ll sing to me again sometime?
”
Giselle
’
s coherent question surprised me, but I took it in stride.

“
Of course
,
Giselle. Will you be al
l
right now?
”

She cocked her head and squinted her eyes at me.
“
Child, go home
and
get your blue socks
;
you
’
ll need them before the week is out.
”

I left her there in her kitchen muttering about blue socks, the elephant gripped in her frail hands and a cool wind blowing through her house.

4

The
older style
cell phone shook a little in my hand
.
I
’
d found if I held it just right it didn
’
t crap out on me too often. Pinching the phone between thumb and forefinger, I squeezed until the power bar came on
. Milly
’
s number was normally embedded in my brain
,
but
this time
I had to look it up.

Millicent, Milly to her friends, was my
closest
friend and the other girl Giselle raised
.
The term
r
aised
gives the impression that we were little when she took us on. I was sixteen and Milly was a year younger. Both orphaned in our own ways,
me twice
,
if you want to get picky,
both
of us
needing a mentor for the innate abilities that were becoming apparent.

“
Hello?
”
Her soft voice was
raspy
and it was obvious I
’
d pulled her from sleep.

“
Hey
,
witch. Get out of bed. We
’
ve got a bit of a problem.
”
I switched ears with the phone and turned the heat up with my now free hand. I could still feel the wind from Giselle
’
s house in my bones.

She groaned.
“
Listen
,
I
’
ve barely been in bed for two hours. You know I don
’
t run on the same schedule as most people.
”

I nodded and said,
“
I know, I wouldn
’
t call if it wasn
’
t important. It
’
s Giselle.
We need to get her out of that house. I have some money from this next case, but it won
’
t be enough for a care home.
”

She gave a sharp gasp
,
and I heard the bed creak in the background
,
then a soft exclamation that wasn
’
t Milly. I smiled. She was always having
“
sleepovers.
”
That was something I didn
’
t have
the
time for, or the inclination
—at least right now
. Matters of the heart were just too messy
,
in my opinion.
I thought again about what Giselle said, about a man coming into my life. No, this was not the time for that kind of crap.

Footsteps and a door closing told me we had a little more privacy.
“
What
’
s wrong?
”

“
We have to move her. I don
’
t know how, but that house is falling down around her ears. And the madness has moved quickly in the last few months. I don
’
t think she
’
ll survive the winter on her own.
She
’
s lost a lot of weight.
”
I paused
and scanned the streets
.
“
Hang on a minute, I think I
’
m lost.
”

I took a left turn and navigate
d
through a sub-division. Bismarck wasn
’
t a huge town, but it was expanding
,
and when all the houses were cookie cutter look a-likes, it was easy to get turned around.

Slowing for a stop sign
,
I continued.
“
I
’
m on a salvage right now
.
”
T
hat was my word for going after kids, just in case we had anyone listening in.
“
I don
’
t know how long it will be, at least a week
maybe
. If you can start to get Giselle out, I
’
ll help you when I get back.
”

Silence on the other end of the line.
“
Milly? Are you still there?
”

“
Rylee, meet me at the coffee shop, the one on East Ave. I
’
ve got . . .
news.
”

My phone took that moment to blink off, and no matter how I smashed and squeezed it I couldn
’
t get it to flick back on.

“
Damn!
”
I spun the wheel and did a tight u-turn. The coffee shop,
“
Bean done Right
,
”
was about five minutes away. Another detour, but for Milly I would take it.

The parking lot was empty
;
in between breakfast and lunch the coffee shop slowed right down. Milly stood outside, arms wrapped around her upper body,
dark brown
hair pulled into a high
ponytail
. I waved and hopped out of the Jeep.