Viator (The Viator Chronicles Book 1) (4 page)

“You don’t know who she is?”

Michael shook his head. “Never seen her before. At first I thought she was a child, but on second glance I saw she was a small woman with a sword at her side. She’d been watching me. Her eyes had the wariness of a viator on the hunt, but she was startled when I looked at her, and she vanished. I thought it was odd.”

“It could be the set up for a trap. Remember how Sean was having dreams about Seattle before he went there? And he ended up betrayed.”

“We don’t know for sure if there was a connection. Besides, everything has risks. I want to know why I’ve been dreaming of this place. And I like it here. It’s quiet, picturesque, and the San Juan Islands are just a short ferry ride away. I can write here.”

Bruce shook his head. “At least you’re getting out of your slump.”

“Well, I’m glad you came. When you go back to Portland you can tell Elizabeth I’m fine.”

“I’ll wait to make that judgment until after I’ve been here a while,” Bruce said.

Chapter 5

Tall firs swayed in the wind overhead, and the sunshine weaved flickering patterns of light and shadow across the ground. Erin lay back on the grass and gazed at the treetops. She’d been waiting in that pleasant spot for a while but knew better than to relax; the dreamer would need her soon enough. White clouds hurried across the deep blue of the sky, and she watched an eagle soar high overhead.

She wore her usual black pants, shirt and boots. The day was warm, and she took off her jacket, putting it under her head.

He called. She scrambled to her feet. It was nothing Erin could hear; she could only feel it. The dreamer cried out. She ran to the narrow road below and paused—which way? To her left. She bounded up the road, leaving her jacket behind.

His urgent call led her onward and she ran faster, the road leading her uphill through a forest growing more dense and dark with every step. The fir trees became taller and crowded closer together, shutting out the sunlight. The road wound around huge boulders and across the face of a precipice. She ran faster, and even in her desperate rush she felt joy in her speed as the wind whipped her hair away from her face, and the muscles of her legs strained to go faster still.

She burst out of the forest and sprinted through a deep meadow. Without the trees, the wind blew in fierce gusts. As she slowed to follow the road around another huge boulder, a gaping chasm in the mountainside opened before her. The road crossed it over a narrow bridge.

Erin stopped. The dreamer stood on the bridge.

The young man leaned over the rail as he looked down, and then turned and saw Erin. His eyes widened, face twisted, and he cried out, “No, get back.”

Erin opened her arms, palms out. “It’s all right. Come to me.”

He shook his head and yelled, “No.”

She took a small step toward him, and he waved his arms, “It’s going to fall. Don’t come out here.”

“Come to me. You’ll be safe.”

He shook his head. “I have to stay here. But not you. Go away.”

Erin stepped closer. “Why?”

“Don’t you see it? There’s a crack right there.” He pointed to the edge of the bridge.

“Then come off.”

He shook his head. “I can’t.”

“Why not?

“I have to do this,” he whispered.

“What did you say?” Erin asked.

He looked at the ground. “It’s what I have to do.”

Erin gazed at him. He was young, early twenties, with brown hair and eyes, but terror twisted his handsome face. His eyes darted around the ground, and he groaned.

“What’s your name?” Erin called.

He looked at her as if he didn’t understand her question before answering. “Paul.”

“Paul, there’s no need to do this. Come with me.”

A roar like thunder broke from the bridge, and Paul dropped to his knees. Dust rose from the center of the bridge, and a crack grew at its edge. Erin dashed toward him and pulled him up by his arm, but the ground shifted under her feet, and she fell, landing face down in the dust.

Paul screamed and Erin grabbed hold of his shirt. The bridge was crumbling underneath them. She tried to crawl away, but he was too heavy for her to drag. The outer edge of the bridge was gone, and dust rose up, blocking her vision, but she could hear the rumbling as, piece by piece, the rest of the bridge collapsed. She thrust one arm around Paul’s chest and tried to haul him back. The last of the bridge gave way, and her feet dropped out from under her. They both screamed, and she reached out wildly with her free hand and seized the edge of the shattered road. She found herself dangling in the air, still holding tight to Paul.

He clung to her. She yelled, “Hold on. We can make it.”

She couldn’t see through all the dust. Paul had wrapped his arms around her waist. She coughed. “Are you all right? I need to let go of you and use both hands.”

He tightened his hold, and she slowly loosened her grip on him. She reached up with her other hand and got a firm grasp on the pavement. A sharp stone cut her palm as she tried to pull herself up, and her arms ached. Paul groaned.

“We’ve got to pull ourselves up to the road,” she said.

“I can’t let go of you.”

“I’m right here. I’ll hold you again—see the ledge?”

He moaned just as the ledge under Erin’s hands gave way and crumbled. She fell backwards and reached out blindly as they plunged into the gully. Erin wrapped both arms around him, and he clung to her waist. The fall took her breath away, and she looked down. Trees raced up to meet them.

She closed her eyes and said, “Paul, we’ll float—in this dream we can float.”

“What?”

“Think. We’re like feathers, floating. We’re flying.”

The ground below was closing fast when Erin felt the change. The wind slowed. They were no longer plummeting to the earth. Like feathers, they floated lazily toward the earth and the creek below.

Paul still held onto her, and his eyes were squeezed shut. They slowed even more, and Erin whispered, “Look.”

He opened his eyes and gasped. Their feet touched the ground on a grassy knoll beside the stream. Their knees gave way, and they both collapsed onto the grass. Paul rolled onto his back and lay there staring upwards, breathing hard. Erin sat up.

“You’re all right.” She sat still for a few minutes and her heart began to calm down. She laughed.

Paul stared at her and began to laugh, too. A few tears streamed from his eyes.

Erin touched his arm. “How many times have you fallen from that bridge?”

He frowned. “Maybe five.”

“Why? Why do you keep doing that?”

He sat up. “How did you do that?”

“Make us float? You did it. This is your dream. And since it’s your dream, you can change it. I just made a suggestion. And you did a very good job of making it happen.” She patted his arm, then stood up and brushed herself off.

Paul stared at her for a minute and rose to his feet beside her. Erin rested her hand on his shoulder. “You’re punishing yourself. Why?”

His face clouded and he shook his head. “I can’t tell you.”

She gripped his shoulder and shook him. “How can you say that to me? Didn’t I just fall with you? I deserve to know why.”

He looked up at the mountainside, then his eyes darted to Erin. “My brother fell from that bridge.”

“And was that your fault?”

“He died in that fall.”

Erin heard the water bubbling in the nearby creek and the wind stirring the branches of the trees. Paul sat down on the grass again and put his head in his hands. Erin sat next to him. She knew enough about grief and guilt. Her own pain was always close to the surface, but she pushed it back down.

Paul lifted his head and looked at Erin’s face. “Who are you?”

“My name is Erin.”

“Why are you here?”

“You called for help.”

He sighed. “Look, I asked my brother to go to the store to pick up some beer. He didn’t want to go, but I talked him into it. The bridge was icy, and his car went over the side. He died because of me.” He covered his face with his hands.

Erin wrapped her arm around his shoulders and said, “You had no control over that event, and you couldn’t have foreseen your request would result in your brother’s death.”

“Oh, don’t give me that bullshit! I know all that. But if I hadn’t asked him to go, he’d still be alive. I would have been the one to die. I should have died, not him.”

Erin was silent and rested her hand on the back of Paul’s head for a few minutes.

“We all die someday,” she said.

He nodded.

“And there’s no guarantee you would have died had you gone to the store that night. Your brother might have died that very night by some other means if he had not gone on that errand.”

He frowned at her.

“You have your life for now. Live it for your brother’s sake,” she said.

She saw her clothes had changed to a long white dress that gleamed in the sunshine, and her feet were bare.

She kissed his forehead. “Sleep now. When you wake, you will be refreshed. And remember, you can always float like a feather in your dreams.”

He lay down on the grass. Erin stood and watched him, and he faded from her sight. She sighed and walked toward the creek. Her former black clothes returned, and she was dressed as before.

She’d left her jacket where she’d been lying before Paul had called her, and she wanted to go back and get it while she was still in this place. She leapt over the creek and made her way through the forest, heading back toward the road. Sunshine glimmered through the trees, and it was easy to find her way through the scattered brush. She wondered if she would see Paul here again sometime, or if he’d be able to put his guilt behind him. Sometimes it took a dreamer many visits to move past such a traumatic event, even when no mortifers were making things worse.

When she reached the road she turned left and followed it down the slope. A crow landed on a tree branch overhanging the road and eyed her. A short distance further, Erin heard voices arguing up ahead, and she slowed her pace. Two men were shouting in the forest. Erin paused in the shadow of the trees and listened.

“Out of my way—you can’t stop me!”

The second man’s voice was quieter but just as angry. “You fool. Do you know what you’re doing?”

“Go to hell.”

The first man crashed through the trees and sprang out onto the road right in front of Erin. He stopped when he saw her. He was blond, a very good-looking man. Was it Gary? The other man rushed out of the forest, grabbed his arm, shoved him up against a tree and held him there by the throat. He was tall with dark hair, dressed in black. Erin stepped backwards into the shadows under the trees, her hand on the knife at her waist. But the tall man let the other go and nearly threw him to the ground with a snort. “You’re right. I can’t stop you,” he said.

The blond smirked and took off running down the road, while the tall man stood like a sentinel, his back still turned to Erin. She didn’t move. The crow flew past her and let out one loud caw when it was overhead. The man turned around and looked directly into her eyes, and his own dark eyes widened with surprise. He scanned her up and down, a faint smile creeping over his features. In an instant, he turned away and ran back into the forest. Erin heard a twig snap where he had gone, and the forest became silent, with not even the sound of a bird.

She stood in the protection of the trees, relieved he was gone, and tried to determine who these men could be. She’d never met any others, besides the dreamers and the mortifers who hunted them. Was the blond man a dreamer? And this tall, dark man some new kind of malicious creature? Perhaps the same man she had seen in a previous dream who had drawn his sword when he saw her? He frightened her, and the blond, who looked so much like Gary, had certainly wanted to get away from him. She shivered and walked back to the knoll where she had left her jacket, put it on, and lay back on the grass until she faded into dreamless sleep.

Chapter 6

Erin looked through her closet. Her green dress was pretty, but missing a button. The black dress, too formal. A skirt and blouse seemed too frumpy. Her wardrobe definitely needed some help. She finally settled on navy blue pants and a lacy white sweater. After curling her hair and adding some lipstick, Erin went downstairs.

The day had been beautiful, and the children had been on the beach with some friends, long since gone home. Erin had taken advantage of the good weather to clean up her yard: mowing, weeding, and planting bright primroses. As she had worked she kept thinking about the chance meeting with Gary, and she was looking forward to talking with him again. Their conversation had brought memories of William back so painfully, but Gary was one of William’s old friends, and it would be good to share some memories. She also felt a vague sense of unease, and even though she couldn’t remember it, she knew she’d had another disturbing dream.

Gwen was packing toys into her backpack as Erin entered the kitchen.

“Are you ready to go to Mrs. Edna’s house?” Erin asked.

“Sure,” Gwen said as she put another doll into her pack.

Matthew called from his bedroom, “All set.” He came down the stairs with his backpack. “Let’s go, kid,” he said to Gwen.

They walked across their gravel driveway and through a gate in the hedge to the small white house next door. Baskets of blue and yellow flowers hung from the eaves, and small stone statues of rabbits and birds clustered in the gardens. They knocked on the door and Edna greeted them, her white hair in tight curls.

“Already had dinner, kids?” she asked.

“We sure did,” said Gwen. “We’re ready for dessert!”

“Well, come on in and have some snickerdoodles and ice cream.”

They stepped into the little house.

“Thanks so much. I shouldn’t be later than eleven,” Erin said.

“Have a great time, dear.”

Erin climbed into her SUV and drove to Aleesha’s house in Anacortes. Several cars were already parked in front when she drove up, so Erin parked on the street and hurried up to the door.

“I’m so glad you’re here. Come in,” Aleesha said as she opened the door. She handed Erin a glass of champagne.