Raven (4 page)

“
Hi,”
was all I could muster as he delved into his pocket and pulled out
a photo of what looked a little (and I mean a little) like me from
when I was just a baby. He turned the image to show me and I
laughed at the sheer ridiculousness of it.

“
Er...
I'd like to think I've changed, a lot. I'm amazed you recognised me
at all,” I said, starting to feel comfortable with the stranger,
but wondering where the photo had come from. It wasn't one I was
familiar with. That said, no photo would be one I was familiar
with. We didn't have any family photos at all.

Together
we laughed as Benjamin easily lifted my bag from the luggage
trolley and asked me to follow him. I stumbled behind him, not sure
what to say as we walked through the car park until we stopped in
front of a large dark green, slightly rusty pick-up
truck.

Luckily
Benjamin was the chatty type so I needn't have worried. All I had
to do was listen and give the occasional reply.

“
I
hope you don't get travel sickness as we've quite a long drive
ahead of us,” he said as we climbed into the pick-up and he started
the engine.

“
I
don't think so... I was okay in the taxi and on the plane so I
guess not.”

“
You
mean that's the only time you've ever travelled anywhere?” he
asked, surprised, as I nodded in response.

“
Well
then, sit back and enjoy the trip. I'm sure you'll be impressed
with what you see. Canada, especially this part of the country, is
pretty awesome. There's lots to see.”

I made
myself as comfortable as possible as he made small talk as we drove
out of the airport towards our destination. I listened while I
looked out the window at the dramatic ocean views, enjoying the
moment until he broached the subject I had been dreading: my
parents.

“
So,
Lillian...” it was coming.

“
Please Benjamin... call me Lilly. Nobody has called me
Lillian since, since, well probably since that photo was
taken.”

He
laughed and nodded, “Okay, Lilly, but only if you call me
Ben.”

We
smiled and were both silent for a moment but I knew he was going to
try and ask me again.

“
Lilly. I just wanted to say how sorry I am about your
parents going missing. I can't imagine what you must be going
through. It must be absolutely awful...”

I didn't
really know how to respond. So I chose not to.

“
It's
okay. I get it. If you don't want to talk about it, that is. You
barely know me after all,” he said with a sad smile as he pulled
onto a busy motorway.

Feeling
a little guilty, I nodded, “Why don't you tell me about you
then?”

“
Not a
heck of a lot to say, really,” he took a breath before continuing,
“my name you now know. I'm twenty-seven years old. I've lived in
the same town pretty much all my life. I've recently opened a vet
practice on the outskirts of town. Yes, I'm the local vet, in case
you were wondering why the truck is covered in dog hair. What else
would you like to know?”

“
Brothers, sisters?” I queried.

“
Oh,
yeah. I have a younger brother, Oliver, who'll be seventeen,” Ben
looked at his watch, “in about thirty-six hours,” he laughed. “I
think your grand-father is hoping you'll join the party, the day
after tomorrow. Nothing grand. Just family and a few friends. I
guess he's hoping you'll make some friends of your own.”

I
cringed slightly and Ben noticed. “Sorry, too soon, I guess. You
know, everyone will completely understand if you'd rather not join
in. You need some time to settle in and chill out and... er...
never mind.”

I
nodded. I didn't think Ben had the slightest clue how grateful I
was. At the same time, I wondered who he meant by 'everyone' but I
didn't ask. I thought about what he said about making some new
friends and I sighed quietly, remembering my sheltered life in
England with so few friends. What if people didn't like me? Having
never made any other friends it was hard for me to imagine meeting
people and being all... well... friendly. But then this life was
going to be completely different from my old life. Perhaps I'd fit
in perfectly. Perhaps I could change. I struggled with the
thought.

It was
just after midday and the sky started to cloud over. I hadn't
noticed how cold it was. I shivered.

Ben
immediately whacked up the heat without saying a word.

We drove
in silence for quite a while until I noticed we were approaching a
ferry terminal. It dawned on me then that I had barely asked any
questions, not even the most important one.

“
You
know, Ben, I haven't got the faintest idea where we're
going.”

“
I
love your accent, Lilly. It's so damn cute... just give me a sec
while I sort out the ferry ticket,” he wound down his window and
while he chatted to the friendly lady with a big grin in the ticket
booth and paid for our crossing, I read the signs around us and
concluded we were going to a place called Langdale.

“
Is
that where you live? Where I'll be living? Langdale?” I asked as he
wound the window back up again.

“
No,
we need to get a second ferry afterwards up to Powell River –
that's where we're going.”

I felt
like such a child asking silly questions. I wish I had known more
about this journey before it had begun.

“
Sorry, I just haven't got a clue,” I choked, as I felt as
if those tears might emerge again.

Luckily
I managed to hold them at bay, and offer what was probably my most
pathetic smile yet.

“
Don't
be sorry, Lilly. It's not your fault that nobody shared any of this
with you. It's such a shame, really. It would have been great for
you and your grand-father if you'd been able to meet each other
before... and under better circumstances.”

Ben was
so kind. Just from this short trip, I knew that we would become
friends. My first Canadian friend. I also got the impression that
he understood me. More than anybody had understood me since the
vanishing. Probably more than anybody had understood me at all.
Ever. In my life. Why he could possibly understand what I was going
through was beyond me, though. But I just had the feeling that he
did, probably more than December had done over the past few
weeks.

I hoped
that I would find everyone in Powell River as understanding and
kind as him. If they were, I would have no problem making those
friends I was so worried about.

CHAPTER SIX

It
wasn't until the following day when some home truths finally
started to trickle into my head. It turned out that my father and
my grand-father hadn't spoken to each other for years. This
explained why we never had anything to do with Canada, or why my
parents never even spoke of it.

“
You
need to sit down and have a proper talk with Lilly, Gabriel. She is
totally in the dark. She's been through enough recently. Don't you
think she deserves to hear the truth?”

I could
hear the voices through the thin walls. I guessed that both Ben and
my grand-father assumed I was still jet lagged. Actually I had
barely slept a wink. I had found it difficult to fall asleep with
no noise surrounding me. The silence had kept me awake for
hours.

“
There
is a reason why things happen in this life, Benjamin, and my son
must have had a reason not to have told his daughter about our life
here. I do not feel that I should break his silence,” replied my
grand-father.

“
But
she's nearly fourteen years old, Gabriel. What if Jack never comes
back?”

“
Don't
you say that, Ben... don't even think it.”

When Ben
and I had returned from our five-hour journey the previous day, I
felt so nervous about meeting my grand-father for the first time.
But I was in for a huge surprise... there was much more to my
family than just a grand-father. In fact I soon found out that I
had a much larger family than I could ever have dreamed
of.

I
needn't have been nervous, of course. I was treated like the long
lost grand-daughter, cousin and niece that I was.

As soon
as we pulled into the long gravel driveway, a group of people
bundled out of the house and stood on the porch, awaiting my
arrival. All looked more nervous than me, if that was
possible.

“
Don't
worry, Lilly. This is your family. They won't bite. Come on. Come
and meet them,” said Ben with a smile and a gentle pat on my
shoulder.

Tentatively, I climbed out of the truck. Ben collected my
bags while I walked up to these strangers who suddenly burst into
smiles and rushed over to me and began hugging me enthusiastically.
I noticed that one person remained behind them all and stayed quiet
while they all made their noisy introductions.

“
Hi
Lillian. I'm your Aunt Meredith,” said a rather short cuddly
middle-aged lady with long black hair, and a tear in her
eye.

“
And
I'm your cousin, Cormac. Meredith is my mum,” said a shy chubby,
spotty boy in his mid teens.

“
Hello
Lillian. I'm John. I'm Meredith's husband. It's a pleasure to
finally meet you,” said a tall grey-haired man with glasses as he
shook my hand energetically. “We have two other sons, Shayne and
Bailey, but both are away studying at the moment and couldn't be
here, I'm afraid,” he added.

An
attractive man with an uncanny resemblance to my father stepped
forward next. He had long black hair tied at the nape of his neck
and was probably in his early forties. He patted me gently on the
back and said, “Lillian. I wish this had been under other
circumstances but it is a great pleasure to see you at last. I wish
that you had been able to visit us long before now. I am your
father's brother, Wyatt. This is my wife, Sonya.” A beautiful slim
woman with long bright white hair took my hand in hers and smiled
kindly.

“
I am
so happy to meet you, Lillian. I believe we will be friends,” she
whispered in the most angelic voice. Instantly, I felt the same
way. We would be friends.

“
I
would like you to meet our daughter, your cousin
Josephine.”

“
Mum... please don't call me that! Hi Lillian, you can call
me Jo. All my friends do,” said a girl a little older than me with
a scowl at her mother. The scowl was given with a laugh so it was
easy to see that this mother and daughter shared a close
bond.

Jo was
the image of her mother. Beautiful with long hair that was as black
as her mother's was white. Both of them carried themselves with
confidence yet neither seemed aware of the incredible beauty that
emanated from them.

“
And
this old boy here is your grand-father, Gabriel,” said Ben with a
smile. As he said the words, the group parted to reveal a broad old
man with short greying hair waiting patiently to be
introduced.

“
Grand-father,” I said approaching him slowly.

He
nodded and took both my hands in his, “We have waited many moons
for this day to come. Lillian Tulugaq, welcome home. Welcome home,”
he said pulling me towards him. He hugged me tightly just for a
moment before we all bundled indoors out of the cold. My hands and
feet were freezing.

As Ben
talked to my grand-father the following morning, I jumped out of
bed and rushed into the kitchen where they stood, eager for them to
see that I was not asleep and that I had heard every word they'd
said.

“
Oh...
you're awake, Lilly. I'm sorry if we woke you,” said Ben, blushing
slightly.

Gabriel
just shook his head as if to say, 'Well, now look what you've
done.'

“
I
just popped in to have a quick word with Gabriel about... er...
Oliver's party. Yes. Well, I'd better be going now. I hope to see
you tomorrow, Lilly,” he said as he put on his thick coat and
gloves, adding with a wink, “but I completely understand if you'd
rather give it a miss.” And he was gone, leaving the two of us
standing silently in the kitchen.

“
Lillian...” said Gabriel. I waited.

“
This
is your home now. You must treat it as your home. Everything that
is here, is now yours.”

I waited
for the crunch but it didn't come.

“
Grand-father?”

“
Lillian?”

“
Please call me Lilly. Nobody has called me Lillian since...
since before I can remember. But last night you called me something
else, after my name. I didn't understand. My surname is Taylor...
isn't it?”

Shaking
his head, he said, “Tulugaq is the name of our forefathers, Lilly.
It is your name, it is my name. It is your father's name as well as
his brother's and sister's. It is in you. It is in here,” he said,
placing his hand over his heart. “It would do you well to remember
this. This is where you come from, Lilly.”