The Legend of the Light Keeper (The Light Keeper Series Book 1) (8 page)

THE LIGHTS
HAD COME ON IN THE NIGHT
, long after we’d fallen asleep, and Tom had come in and found us when he got up to make his coffee. He seemed satisfied with our excuse of falling asleep during a movie, but gave us suspicious glares as he sent us both to our own beds.

I’d just gotten settled in mine when Mom came in to say goodbye and remind me to be ready for our shopping trip. We’d leave as soon as she got home. Tom came in and wished me happy birthday. He also gave me a fifty dollar bill for my shopping trip, which he claimed was from Talon too.

I slept until almost 10:45 and woke up to the sounds of Hunter and Talon in the kitchen. I figured it was boy talk; something I wasn’t really used to. It made me anxious for my time with Mom. We’d have a great time shopping, sure, but best of all I’d get to talk to her about girl things. I’d missed that a lot lately.

Eventually the boys’ laughter got the best of me, and I had to go see what was going on. I got up and dressed and went to the kitchen to join them.

“Happy Birthday, Lily!” Hunter said. “Sweet sixteen!” His brows waggled with the words. “Granny’s got a surprise for you. She’ll bring it by later. You gonna be around?”

“Yep, till about six, then Mom and I are going shopping.”

“That reminds me.” Talon snapped his fingers and turned to Hunter. “Dad and I are going to be playing some cards while the girls are out. We figured you and Owen might want to join us. Texas Hold’em?”

“Sure, Owen loves cards, I’m sure he’s in too.” Hunter nodded, and with that their plans were all set for the evening.

* * *

About two o’clock, Owen escorted Granny over with her surprise, which turned out to be a chocolate cake.

“Oh, it smells amazing,” I said. The aroma wafted from the container as I pulled off the lid. The cake was decorated with rainbow sprinkles, and I brought plates and forks to the table for us all. “It’s beautiful, thank you. You really didn’t have to go to so much trouble.”

Granny cut me a slice. “Birthday girl gets the first piece,” she said. “It wasn’t any trouble. Besides, it was Owen’s idea.” She winked at her grandson who turned pink as he took his slice of cake to the table.

We gathered around it with him, and I savored each bite, which tasted so much like the cakes my Gram used to make. “I haven’t had cake like this in so long.” The boys were scarfing down their pieces and licking their fingers, having ignored the fact there were forks. I watched them a moment, smiling and shaking my head. Granny didn’t seem to notice, and when I looked at her again she turned away from me quickly as if she’d been staring.

“Oh, I was going to ask you about your story,” Talon said to Granny. “You know, about the Light.” I was glad Talon remembered. I had wanted to ask Granny about it too. I wondered if it would give me answers about what I saw.

“Ah, yes. You know, I was just thinking about my cousin, Mary. Lily sort of reminds me of her. I was with her the night it happened—my story. It was 1955, and I was just out of high school. The legends of Bragg Road were old news to us locals, but some reporter wrote up a big article on it, and the story was resurrected. After that, people came from miles around to see the Light.

“Well, my cousin Mary and I had a double-date with the Brine boys—Henry and Harold. My daddy extended my curfew to midnight since I’d just graduated. We went into town to grab a burger and run the roads. Then at about 10:30, we drove up here to Bragg on our way home to Saratoga. Harold was driving, and he slowed the car down to a crawl. Eventually we stopped and waited, hoping to see the Light, but only for a minute. I kept a close eye on my watch. I didn’t want to break that new curfew. No one wanted to cross Daddy, especially the Brine boys.

“At 11:15 we were driving down the last mile of the road, making perfect time, when all of a sudden, the Light appeared. Harold stopped the car, and we all froze. It was a faint glow at first, and then it got brighter, whiter and more defined. It seemed to come closer. Then it was right on us, hovering above the windshield.” Granny’s eyes were wide.

“It disappeared as quickly as it came. We sat there in shock for a minute, and Mary started screaming in hysterics. Something about the Light scared her more than any of us. We finally calmed her down and started for home. The whole episode only lasted seconds— a few minutes at most. I was sure of it. When I checked my watch again, I did a double take. It was almost 12:30. We had somehow lost a whole hour.” Granny seemed disturbed by the memory.

“You lost time?” I asked. Granny held up a finger and nodded, eager to continue.

“We drove to my house, scared out of our minds, not only because of the Light, but because of my Daddy. We knew he’d never buy the whole ‘lost time’ excuse. Aside from me, Harold had been checking his watch too. He didn’t want to be late and face Daddy either. We couldn’t tell him the truth, he wouldn’t think too much of the boys for having us out on Bragg Road. Daddy was furious. My curfew got dropped to nine-thirty for a few months, and I never saw the Brine boys outside of church ever again. Mary and I only spoke of it once after that. Something about it had scared her much worse. She was terrified to even mention it, and so I never did. To this day, I’ve only told a few people this story.”

“Do you think you could’ve been mistaken about the time?” Talon asked.

“No, we
did
lose time. I’m sure of it. I don’t really understand it, but it happened. You never met my daddy. Not many crossed him on purpose,” She stood and gathered our empty dishes, and I jumped up to help.

“What do you think it is?” I asked, following her to the sink.

“I don’t know, really. I think there are some things in this world that we aren’t supposed to understand. That Light’s one of them. No matter how many of them fancy scientists they’ve sent out, no one can explain it. It just is.”

“Well, it’s got to have some scientific reason for being. Everything does,” Hunter said.

Owen nudged his brother. “I guess you’re gonna figure it out, huh, genius?”

Hunter leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms up behind his head. “Why not? I mean, someone’s got to,” he said.

“No, no, no.” Granny shook her head. “Whatever it is, it ain’t nothin’ to go meddling in. I didn’t tell you kids about the Light so you’d go chasing it. I told you so you’d understand there’s no sense in it. I’ve told you all there is to know.” She finished rinsing the last dish and turned to hand it to me. With a wrinkle between her brows she said, “I’ll get that carrier later, perhaps when your mother is home.” Then she left. I felt as if I’d said something wrong. She clearly didn’t want us messing around with the Light, but it wasn’t my fault that it was messing with me.

Hunter and Owen left not long after, and Talon and I retired to our rooms. I had to get ready for my outing. It was the first time in a while that I was going to have a reason to fix my hair and make-up. Not that I wore much, but something about putting on lip gloss and mascara made me feel all dressed up. I curled my hair to tame the wildness of my natural wave and sprayed just a smidge of hair spray to set it so it still felt soft.

It was nice putting on something other than faded jeans and one of my many colored tank tops. I wore my crisp dark jeans, black boots and deep green blouse with the sweeping neck-line. After attaching my earrings behind my curtain of hair, I took a step back to look in the mirror. Before me was the reflection of a girl I hadn’t seen in a while, a long lost friend. I smiled at her and then went to watch TV and wait on Mom.

On his way to the kitchen, Talon passed by before stepping back for a double take. His eyes widened as his smile spread slowly. “Wow, you look— different.”

“Good or bad?” I felt a heat creep into my cheeks as I started to blush.

“You look…hot.” He chose his words carefully, and I could see the embarrassment growing red in his cheeks once he said it.

“Thanks.” I held my lips tight and tried not to smile too big. Hot was just as good as gorgeous, maybe better. I glanced over my shoulder to find him still staring.

My cell phone rang as I sat there, pleased. It was Mom. My expression faded to a frown as she broke the news. “Lily, I’m sorry, Baby, I’m running late with all the walk-ins today, and I’m still trying to finish my last two appointments.”

“Oh well, by the time you get home and we leave again, the mall will be closing.” I sighed. “We’ll just go another time.”

“We will, Jo-Jo. I promise!”

I hung up the phone and flipped through a few more channels, but I didn’t want to watch TV. I wanted to cry, but I wouldn’t. I stood up to go to my room about the time that the brothers knocked on the front door. “Whoa!” Hunter’s jaw dropped.

Owen’s eyes widened. “Wow! You look —amazing.”

“Yeah, you clean up real nice,” said Hunter, as I stepped aside and let them in.

“Thanks, but it doesn’t matter now since my plans are ruined.”

“Hang out with us. I’ll teach you poker,” Owen offered. His voice was as thick and sweet as honey.

“What makes you think I don’t already know how to play poker?” I crossed my arms and waited for his response.

“Do you?” He shrugged.

“No, not really.” I lifted a shoulder. “You guys have fun.”

I went to my room, shut the door, and sat on my bed with the yellow bag that contained my gifts. The glass from the picture frame was a perfect fit. I put the broken glass in the new, cheap frame and threw it away in the bathroom. I didn’t want to go into the kitchen where the guys were already laughing and cutting up. I ignored the sounds of fun and went back to my bed, staring at a book I’d read so many times that the picture on the front cover was lost to its wrinkles. I stayed there all evening until Mom finally came home at 8:30.

Twenty minutes after she got home, she came to my room carrying a little wooden trunk about the size of a small laundry basket. I had seen it once when we evacuated. I had guessed it held important papers and thought no more of it. “Sorry about tonight,” she said. “We’ll go another time, I promise.” I could see the apology in her eyes.

I shrugged and forced a smile. “It’s fine, Mom.” I tried to sound convincing.

“This is for you,” she said. She held out the little trunk, and then set it on my bed. She handed me a rusted key that hung on a tattered red ribbon.

I stared at her, puzzled, so she explained as I opened it. “This was your dad’s trunk. It has all of his things that I’ve been keeping for you. There are also some things of Gram’s that she wanted you to have: a Bible, a locket, some pictures and books. She wanted me to give them to you when you turned sixteen. I can’t hold on to your dad forever, especially since I’m in love with Tom. I’ll always miss your dad, Jo-Jo, but when I want to see him, I’ll just look at you. You are so much like him.” She kissed the top of my head.

Inside, I discovered all sorts of treasures, including my parents’ wedding rings and marriage license. I found Gram’s locket, too. It still held a picture of Grandpa. He was so handsome with such a warm smile. I wished I’d known him better.

I opened Gram’s Bible and noticed that the front page had a family tree. It was all filled in with her beautiful flowing handwriting. I skimmed over it. It started with my great-grandmother and ended with me. I closed it and gave Mom a hug. “Thanks. I love it. All of it.”

“Oh yeah,” she said, as she dug in her pocket. “This is from me.” She handed me three crisp twenties. “If you want to make some more you can come down next week and help me out at the shop. I can always use a sweeper.”

I thought about it. Talon would be gone so I may as well find something to do with my time. “Sure, that sounds great.”

She gave me another hug and left me to my inheritance.

I
CONTINUED
TO DIG IN THE LITTLE TRUNK
. It was neat to see and feel things that belonged to Dad. I found his wallet and his watch, which still worked after I wound it. I slipped my finger through his wedding ring and it was so big it didn’t even fit my thumb. I was sure he had it on during his accident; the night he was killed by some drunk Mom had said was out celebrating his divorce. It made her sick that someone so happy to be rid of his own spouse had taken hers away.

I moved on to other items, finding a small Christmas candy tin that held pictures. Most of them were black and white, but some were sepia and yellowed. Gram’s Bible also had some pictures and obituaries tucked inside. One was my grandpa’s, one was my dad’s and a few more were people I never knew.

I dug to the bottom and found an old paper sack that had something wrapped up inside, and to my surprise, on the outside fold of the bag, scrawled in black; it read: “For Lily, from Gram.” Inside was an old book with a plain, but tattered, brown cover. It smelled musty and I opened it to the first page where I found written in a beautiful script:
Diary of
Alyssa Harris.

“Alyssa Harris?” The name wasn’t even vaguely familiar. Why would Gram leave me a stranger’s diary? Maybe I’d find some clue tucked in its crisp yellow pages. I turned to the first entry.

February 16, 1912

Today I saw Michael again. For once he hadn’t run off with his cousin, and he even helped me polish Miss Birdie’s silver. Having him around helped keep my session short. Birdie still thinks she can help me. I just want to be normal. I watched Michael’s strong hands rubbing the largest pieces of silver and wondered what he would think of me if he knew my secret. Then again, I often wonder what he thinks about me with the way he smiles at me, his blue eyes brightening. But perhaps that is all in my head. Would it be best to hear his thoughts? I am not certain, but it most definitely wouldn’t be fair. This is why I question my awakening and wonder if I should tell Birdie I am not interested.

I read the passage again and still didn’t quite understand it. It was obvious that Alyssa had a crush on Michael and that she was unsure about this Birdie person and her sessions.
What sessions? And even more importantly
what is an awakening?
This girl seemed to imply that she had the choice to read his thoughts.
Was that the secret she mentioned?
Intrigued, I read on to the next passage which, because of a few missing pages, didn’t come until March.

March 20, 1912

Today has been most eventful. Not only did Birdie and I make a breakthrough, but my mother has finally gone off the deep end. Just today she introduced me to a man, Rex Mitchell, who works for the railroad. Mother has been rubbing elbows with him. He is much older than me and quite handsome, but all she can talk about is how I would be smart to marry a man like him. I defended my interest in Michael only to have her slander him with opinions of how he is not good enough for me and how I should be smarter than to marry for mere puppy love over wealth and possibility. I see the possibility in Michael. I only wish I had my abilities clear enough to read them both to be sure. No one plants doubt like my mother
.

I was amazed.
She’s talking about abilities. This is why Gram wanted me to have this book. Alyssa can read thoughts. Well, she’s trying to
. What was Gram trying to tell me? She always knew I saw the Shadows. Was Alyssa like me or was I like her? Was this Gram’s way of telling me that I’m not alone and more normal than I feel, and that other people have abilities too?

I read on further through days of Alyssa swooning over Michael and being worried over Rex, and then I was surprised when I came to Alyssa’s sixteenth birthday.

April 5, 1912

A girl’s sweet sixteenth is supposed to be the best day of her life, or so I have heard. Instead, I had the most awkward situation. Mother invited Rex to dinner. That would not have been so terrible if I had not invited Michael over after dinner for a visit. Mother pushed Rex and me out on the porch for some privacy the same moment Michael arrived. He was angry and didn’t stay. I couldn’t blame him. Rex was very arrogant, and just when I didn’t think it could get any worse, I heard his thoughts. Birdie warned me it could be random. It was not his words that I took notice of, but the sound of his inner voice. It was much different than when he speaks aloud, but almost familiar too, in a strange way. I must tell Birdie, but I think this will only make the sessions harder. I am already drained at the end of each day and falling behind on my chores. Mother is complaining daily that I spend far too much time at Mrs. Chandler’s house as it is and that she should be paying me more. If she only knew what we were really doing. I’ve been restless all day, My thoughts wander back to Mr. Mitchell’s. I can’t get that voice out of my mind. I know it.

I laid the book on my chest and stared at the ceiling.
This is crazy.
If his inner voice sounded different, did Alyssa think that he was acting as someone else? Some sort of impostor?
I looked back to the words on the page, seeing but not reading them. I wondered if I should show the guys. I decided to keep it to myself until I read more, but the words I’d read so far haunted me. If I hadn’t been so sleepy I would have read on, instead I plugged in my little hummingbird and tucked myself in for the night.