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A piercing scream ripped through the air, settling into the hearts of the neighbours, jolting Robert and Lisa wide awake. They jumped off the couch; surprised they had been sleeping. Another scream, louder than the first singed the wind travelling through the house, causing icy chills to go through their spines. They ran outside, their feet barely hitting the ground as they followed the path of the scream.
“Luna! No!”
Robert hit the ladder, climbing quickly upwards into the tree fort. He stopped when he saw Mary-Anne standing before him, still screaming, shaking the limp cat, and willing Luna to wake up. He yelled at Lisa to stay down on the ground. Taking a deep breath he walked towards Mary-Anne. Through terrified eyes, she stared at Robert than thrust Luna towards him.
“Make her wake up! Make her wake up right now!” she screamed.
Robert took the limp body into his hands. Without a word he climbed silently down the ladder and stood beside Lisa.
“She killed Luna” he whispered and walked towards the bush.
Lisa stood there watching her husband walk away. Stunned. Mary-Anne remained up on the fort, screaming.
Lisa watched her husband tenderly lay Luna upon the ground, under a big spruce tree. She watched him turn and walk briskly to the garage, returning with a shovel. She ignored Mary-Anne’s screams as she watched Robert bury Luna.
“Lisa!” Betty stated sharply, “Lisa! Is everything ok? Why is Mary-Anne screaming like a banshee? It’s 10PM, can’t you make her shut up?”
Lisa turned. Her eyes narrowed as she listened to the nosy neighbour complain. If it wasn’t one thing, it was another. First it was the tree fort and how it would ruin the pristine appearance of the neighbourhood. Then it was the noise of the children playing on the trampoline during long summer nights. Another time it was Betty’s fear that Luna would escape and attack the songbirds that ate in the feeder, in the middle of Betty’s yard. Well, now Betty won’t have to worry about Luna any longer.
Mary-Anne continued to scream. Lisa ignored her.
“We’re fine,” Lisa stated, “There was an accident and Luna is dead. Mary-Anne is having troubles dealing with it. I’ll be sure to stop her grief so it doesn’t bother you any longer.”
“Well excuse me for caring” Betty replied back, “I was simply worried and wondered if there was any way I could help.”
Betty walked away in a huff of anger. Turning she added, “You know, she wouldn’t be this way if you’d just give her a spanking once in awhile instead of pampering her. I mean, I heard she killed a girl the other day and now, well, mark my words. She’s a wild one and desperately in need of a good spanking.”
Lisa yelled out in anger as Betty slammed the gate between them, “You bet, I’ll be sure to beat the hell out of her. That’s the ticket to raising great kids!”
And to herself she muttered, “you old bat, go find the rock you crawled out from under and rot yourself.”
Looking up, Lisa screamed, “Mary-Anne, shut up! And get down here right now!”
Lisa looked over and saw Robert was finished burying Luna. A cold shudder came over her and she wondered, just for a moment, if Mary-Anne really had told the truth earlier. Who knows. And where was Bobby?
“Lisa, did you make Luna wake up?” Mary-Anne stammered, wiping her tears away without success, “Did you? Did Robert make her wake up? Is she ok?”
Robert walked up to them both, “Mary-Anne what happened? How did Luna die?”
Mary-Anne looked quickly between Lisa and Robert. Realization hit her and she dropped to her knees, breaking into new sobs.
“NO! I didn’t kill her! I didn’t! I didn’t! Make her wake up! Make her wake up right now!”
She jumped up and hit out. Striking Robert hard in the groin and legs with her fists, she knocked him to the ground. She shook him as he tried to grasp his breath. Lisa pulled her off, shaking her harshly.
“Mary-Anne! Enough!” Lisa stated, “What happened up there? Where is Bobby? How did Luna die?”
“No!” Mary-Anne screamed, “No! She isn’t! No!”
“She’s dead Mary-Anne. Her neck was broken. That wasn’t an accident.”
“No! I didn’t do anything! Bobby got mad at me and ran away. I don’t know why. I fell asleep and Luna was sleeping on my lap. When I woke up, she wouldn’t wake up and she wasn’t moving. I don’t know why. I don’t!”
Mary-Anne collapsed. Curling up, she rocked, crying without end. Lisa stared down at her, coldly. Robert finally caught his breath and got up, standing beside her.
“Get up Mary-Anne” he demanded, “Get up right now and go to your room. We’ll figure this out in the morning.”
Mary-Anne ignored him and continued to rock. Robert picked her up by one arm, forcing her to stand. She walked stiffly with Robert pushing her on every step until she reached her bedroom, where she collapsed on the bed. Robert shut the door behind her and walked into Lisa’s waiting arms.
*****************
Bobby ran. He ran until his lungs screamed out in pain and his legs turned to rubber. He collapsed on a large rock and burst into tears. As the evening twilight turned into night, Bobby sat on the rock and cried. He cried for Tracey, for his parents, for the girl Mary-Anne beat up, for himself and for Mary-Anne. He even cried for Mary-Anne’s mother and all the sadness she must have felt in order to kill herself right in front of her own daughter.
The moon finally rose high in the sky, casting its brightness throughout the field where Bobby was sitting.
“Hey moon, you sure haven’t been doing your job. I told you we need you to protect us. You sure did let us down this time.”
Bobby sighed deeply, wishing for the hundredth time that he could just board a rocket ship and fly away. Away from all the pain that seemed to live as a shadow in his small world. In Bobby’s dreams, he wanted a time machine that could go backwards to bring Tracey home.
“Well moon, you sure weren’t a help for my sister. Or for Mary-Anne. And hey, you sure let me down, you know. Maybe I’ll just stop believing in you.”
Bobby jumped up, staring at the moon in defiance, willing it to prove him wrong. A soft breeze flowed through, wrapping Bobby in its warm wind. Puzzled, Bobby moved his hand up to his face, feeling softness brushing against his cheek. He heard the wind whispering to him, words of love and reassurance. Tears flowed as he listened, sensing his sister nearby. Sensing she was crying over the pain he was feeling.
“Tracey?”
The breeze played at his feet, moving upwards until he was covered in its warm web. Bobby closed his eyes and saw his sister standing before him smiling. He sensed her wiping away his tears and with a kiss to his cheek, she disappeared.
He stood there as the breeze left, travelling the path of the other world.
“I love you Tracey.” he whispered into the disappearing breeze.
******************
Mary-Anne sat on the floor, rocking. No more tears. Lost in a world without feelings, without meaning, chatting nonsensical nursery rhymes.
Lisa and Robert held one another tight in the hallway, ignoring the chanting from behind the closed door. Neither spoke. Neither moved. The shock of the last week finally settling in and pushing them both over the edge.
Finally Robert moved. He took Lisa’s hand and walked down the stairs to the kitchen where he picked up the phone. Lisa’s tears flowed harder as she watched him dial the emergency number.
“Maggie, you need to take Mary-Anne away from here.”
Robert paused, listening, shaking his head as his grip on Lisa’s hand grew tighter.
“Yes tonight. We can’t do it anymore.”
His voice rose as his anger grew.
“Tonight! Or I swear to God I’ll throw her out myself. She killed the cat. Broke its neck. Do not tell me that's normal. Try to explain to my son why the gift he gave is now buried in the backyard. Try to tell him how an innocent cat was murdered. Yes, by God, murdered!”
Lisa cringed as he screamed, “Snapped in two, do you want me to draw you a picture?”
He slammed the phone down, nearly breaking it. Upstairs the chants grew louder.
“She’s coming over” he stated.
Robert dropped Lisa’s hand and stomped outside, slamming the kitchen door behind him. Lisa stood there, her eyes closed, hands over her ears, fighting the urge to throw Mary-Anne out the window.
*************************
Bobby walked home surrounded in the love of his sister’s angel. He knew what he had to do when he got there. He had to apologize for yelling at Mary-Anne. He had to tell her that he was really angry and got all messed up. He knew that his sister wanted him to forgive Mary-Anne for what happened – it wasn’t her fault. It wasn’t Tracey’s fault either. It was time to forgive, it was what Tracey wanted.
Bobby swallowed hard before he opened the side gate. Darkness was all around, only the distant streetlights broke the night with its yellow shadows. It was very late and he knew his parents would be very angry.
He bit his lower lip and walked through. Maybe they won’t be so angry, he thought to himself, when they find out Tracey came back as an angel and was watching out for them all. He jumped when he heard the first scream and ran as the second one hit the air.
“Daddy! Mummy! Mary-Anne?” he yelled out as he ran through the back door, “Where are you guys?”
“NO! I didn’t kill her! I won’t go with you, I won’t!”
“Daddy?” Bobby yelled, “Mum? What is going on?”
Bobby stood at doorway to the hallway, watching Maggie wrestle with Mary-Anne while his parents stood at the front door holding it open.
“You can’t make me go! I didn’t do anything! I swear! I didn’t kill Luna!”
Mary-Anne spotted Bobby. Breaking free from Maggie, she ran straight to Bobby and grabbed him tightly. She looked at him with huge brown eyes, filled with fear and begged him to make them leave her alone. Bobby wrapped her in his arms, confused at what was happening.
“Son, I’m sorry, it’s out of our control.” Robert said as he tried to loosen Bobby’s hold on Mary-Anne, “She needs more than we can give her. She has to leave.”
“Bobby, honey, we’ll explain later,” Lisa added, “but right now, Mary-Anne has to go. She cannot stay here anymore.”
Mary-Anne pushed herself deeper into Bobby’s arms.
“No!” she muttered, “They say I killed Luna. I didn’t! I didn’t Bobby! You have to believe me!”
Bobby looked down at her, then over at his parents. He looked over their shoulders towards Maggie. Maggie shook her head and looked away.
“Bobby, you have to believe me! Someone has to believe me!”
“Son, let her go” Robert stated, pulling at Bobby’s arms, trying to release Mary-Anne, “She just can’t stay here anymore.”
Bobby shoved his father, knocking him off-balance. It was the one move Robert wasn’t expecting. The growth spurt had done Bobby well, placing him at an even keel to his father. He tightened his hold around Mary-Anne and walked her out. They walked through the kitchen and out the door while the stunned adults watched. Bobby never stopped walking. He walked Mary-Anne to the fort and helped her climb up. He walked her to the pillows tossed on the rough timber floor and pulled her down with him. He wrapped his arms tight around Mary-Anne, willing her to sleep. He spoke in whispers, telling her the morning would be soon enough to explain and tonight, she must sleep.
A soft breeze flowed through the fort, protecting the children in its tender hold and Bobby smiled knowing his sister was nearby. Mary-Anne’s eyes soon closed and her breaths slowed until Bobby knew she was sound asleep.
“Thank you Tracey” he whispered, “and thank you moon.”
Soon, Bobby fell asleep wrapped in the angel sent blanket of love, sent by his sister.
**********************
Maggie left with promises that she would drop by in the afternoon. Robert and Lisa stood at the door, watching her drive away until the night swallowed her in its darkness and they couldn’t see the tail lights of her car.
Robert placed his arm around his wife, holding her tight as they walked with heavy steps up the stairs and into their bedroom. Neither spoke. No words could convey what either was feeling. Lisa collapsed on the bed. Robert gently removed her clothes and dropped a light flannel nightgown over her shoulders. He guided her under the covers and tucked her in, kissing her lightly on the cheek. He sat on the chair, staring outside the window at the same moon Bobby was talking to. He found no solace in the cold light of the moon. Unlike his son, he did not believe the moon was capable of answering anyone’s prayers.
**********************
Maggie drove. Staring out at the night, she bit her lip in anger until it bled. Tasting the saltiness of the blood on her tongue she spat out.
“Damn!” she screamed, slamming on the brakes, almost hitting the dog that slipped out from behind dark shadows and into the path of the car’s bright lights.
“Damn! Damn! Damn!” she screamed, slamming her fists into the steering wheel, “Damn!”
Her beeper went off causing her to jump. Grabbing it off the passenger seat, she glared at the number and blew out a sigh of relief when it came up as her home number. With shaking hands she dialed the cellular phone and relaxed as soon as her boyfriend answered the phone.
“I’ll be home in 30 minutes, honey” she said, “Just have to write up a report and contact the foster home to cancel the placement.”
She laughed as she heard his response, “Yeah, hon, just another false report. Nothing important. Can’t wait to get back to our bubble bath. Love you babe.”
As she turned off the phone and started back down the road, she muttered, “Yeah, nothing important. Just a crazy girl, a dead cat, one over-protective young man and two parents finally pushed over the edge. Yeah, nothing important. Just my sanity which I swear I’m losing. Damn that wine is going to taste good tonight."”
*********************
Over the rugged mountains and through the tall spruce trees, the breeze blew softly settling over the Parson’s home. Robert felt it settle into his bones, causing a warm chill through his back. Lisa shifted in her sleep, her tears easing as a smile broke out over her face. Bobby sighed deeply, strong in the knowledge that they were not alone – his sister’s angel was near. Mary-Anne shifted restlessly in her sleep, muttering curses and crying out, begging forgiveness for actions beyond her control.
The neighbour, Betty, looked through her high bedroom window, over the fence and into the Parson’s yard. She rubbed her eyes, unbelieving as she watched two shadow figures drifting – one a cat and another a young woman. White mist swirled together until the cat settled into the angel’s arms, riding high on the breeze to where the two children slept wrapped in one another’s arms. Betty watched in disbelief as the mist disappeared into the fort. Turning towards her husband, she muttered about the moonlight playing silly tricks in the yard next door.
In the fort, the children slept protected through the night by mists of angels and love, while the moon shone brightly in the dark sky above.
© 2001 BMcInnis
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