‘Sure,’ he folded a couple of napkins and tucked them into the bag before retrieving a couple of cold bottles from the small refrigerator behind him.
‘So,’ he smiled easily, ‘where are you staying while you’re on the island?’
‘Why?’ she asked suspiciously.
‘How else am I going to call you up and ask you to dinner, you still need to try the lobster remember?’ he winked, ‘the locals won’t accept you until you do.’
‘I don’t think….’
There was a loud and sudden crash from the kitchen followed by profuse stream of profanities.
‘Hold that thought,’ Kelley turned toward the kitchen, ‘seriously, don’t move I’ll be right back.’
He disappeared through the doors into the back and Ava sighed. He was too appealing for his own good, or maybe her own good. She shook her head, she wasn’t looking to start anything up, even anything casual, she had too much on her mind. Shoving her hand into her pocket she pulled out a handful of bills and dropped them on the bar as she picked up the bag of food and her two beers.
Shame, she glanced once more in the direction Kelley had disappeared before she deliberately turned and walked out the door.
Climbing back into her truck, Bailey immediately stuck her nose into the bag.
‘NO!’ Ava snapped firmly, ‘you have to wait. If not, you can sit in the back.’
Bailey obediently sat down, her tail thumping against the seat, a small plaintive whine at the back of her throat.
‘That’s what I thought,’ Ava nodded as she tucked the food down in front of the seat and backed out onto the road.
They headed back through the town, up the narrow winding road, following the route they’d taken earlier in the day. It was almost full dark now, with only her headlamps to guide the way through the tree lined road.
Finally, it opened up and Ava pulled up, parking a short distance from the house on the patchy grass.
‘Come on then girl,’ she climbed out with Bailey hopping down enthusiastically next to her. ‘Would you look at that?’ she breathed.
The full moon reflected off the ocean making it glitter and shimmer restlessly, and in that one instant, with the cool night air tugging at her hair and the salty scent of the ocean in her nostrils combined with the soothing sound of the waves crashing against the base of the cliff, she fell hopelessly in love. Whereas her mom had needed the heat and the desert, Ava realized, she needed the ocean.
Smiling to herself she climbed up into the flatbed of her truck and settled back down beside Bailey as she unwrapped their food.
After they’d eaten, Ava had enjoyed a cool beer as she lay back staring at the pinpricks of light in the vast indigo sky above her, and for the first time in her life, she felt peaceful. She watched for the longest time, snuggled back against her bags, with a full belly, the comforting weight of her dog pressing across her legs and the lullaby of the ocean crooning softly to her. Her eyes began to get heavy, drifting closed, and as the moon watched over her, high in the sky, Ava didn’t notice the tiny flickering of a solitary candle in the topmost room of the darkened house.
3
The Lynch House, Midnight Island.
Jan 1907.
She reached out with gentle hands and as she peeled the dressing back, he whimpered in pain as the stained cotton took a layer of oozing skin with it.
‘Shush,’ she whispered.
‘It hurts.’
‘I know it does,’ her eyes widened nervously as she glanced at the closed door, ‘but if you make a noise, she’ll hear you.’
The small boy clamped his lips closed so tightly they turned white, his eyes filled with pain and fear. She resumed her task, working quickly to avoid causing him any more pain. The skin of his stomach was angry and red, peeling in patches, his groin and his upper thighs weren’t much better. There was still no improvement. All she could see were blisters and dead skin. He would bear scars for the rest of his life, but he would recover as long as the wounds did not become infected.
‘Why does she hate us?’ he asked as she pulled his nightshirt down over the fresh dressings and drew the blanket back over him.
‘Hush,’ she soothed him, ‘don’t think about that now.’
She stood quietly, wincing slightly as the floor creaked beneath her stockinged feet. She tried to move as quietly as possible. She removed her dark blue woolen dress and laid it over the back of the plain wooden chair, leaving her in only her pantalettes and chemise as she perched on the edge of the bed and removed her black wool stockings.
She stood slowly and as she turned, the dim flickering candlelight highlighted the angry red slashes across the backs of her arms, her shoulders, and her back, disappearing underneath the white lace of her chemise.
‘Does it still hurt?’ he asked in a small voice as he stared at the thin vicious marks of the switch. His tummy hurt when he looked at them; she’d been punished because she’d tried to stop HER, from hurting him. It hadn’t mattered anyway; she’d still scalded him and beaten his sister. ‘I can put some salve on it.’
‘No love,’ she whispered, ‘it doesn’t hurt.’
She turned away from him, so he couldn’t see the lie in her eyes. It was painful, every time she moved it burned and ached, but there was only a little salve left and his need was greater.
She grabbed her long nightshirt and pulled it on over her undergarments and shivered, her breath puffing out in little white misty clouds. It was so cold in the topmost room, but the servants weren’t allowed to light the fire.
She climbed into bed beside him, clambering under the blankets and pulling him in close.
‘Sleep now,’ she murmured, rocking him gently in her arms.
‘Will you tell me a story?’ he whispered sleepily.
‘Only if you close your eyes,’ she murmured, her brow furrowing slightly as she felt the intense heat from his small, thin body.
Blowing out the candle, they lay together in the darkness as she whispered to him. Tales of faraway lands, of towers and palaces, of wild animals and elephants, the wonders of the world.
‘Will we go one day?’ he murmured, his voice slurred, ‘you and I?’
‘Of course, love,’ she stroked his damp hair, ‘as soon as I’m old enough I’m going to take you away from this place, far far away from this house, from her. We’ll be free and she’ll never ever hurt us ever again.’
‘Promise?’ he mumbled.
‘I promise,’ she kissed his clammy forehead, ‘now sleep.’
She held him in the darkness as he slipped into dreams, not knowing that he would be dead before the dawn.
4
Ava’s head broke the water and she dragged in a lungful of air. The early morning sun was bright and the air warm, although her skin pebbled under the cool water as it rippled and shimmered around her, catching the rays of light and reflecting them back.
Wading over to the rocky ledge she retrieved her bar of soap and began to wash, as Bailey barked happily and jumped in and out of the waves, playing like an excitable puppy. Then again, Ava couldn’t really blame her. Up until this point neither of them had spent any real time along the coast, now they found themselves on a beautiful little island and it felt good.