The Traveler

61

Once again, Maya was held captive by the dream. Standing alone in the dark tunnel, she attacked the three football thugs and escaped down the staircase. Men were fighting on the platform, trying to smash the train windows, as Thorn grabbed her with his right hand and pulled her into the car.

She had thought about that incident so many times that it had become a permanent section of her brain. Wake up, she told herself. Enough. But this time she lingered in the memory. The train lurched forward and she pressed her face against her father’s wool overcoat. Her eyes were closed as she bit her lip and tasted blood in her mouth.

Maya’s anger was strong and loud, but another voice was whispering to her in the darkness. And then she knew that a secret was about to be revealed. Thorn had always been strong and brave and sure of himself. He had betrayed her that afternoon in North London, but something else had happened.

The Underground train lurched forward, leaving the station, and she looked up at her father and saw that he was crying. At the time, it seemed impossible that Thorn could ever show weakness. But now she knew it was true. A single tear on a Harlequin’s cheek was a rare and precious thing. Forgive me. Was that what he was thinking? Forgive me for what I have done to you.

SHE OPENED HER eyes and saw that Vicki was looking down at her. For a few seconds Maya lingered in a shadow land between her dream and the waking world; she could still see Thorn’s face while her hand touched the edge of a blanket. Breathe out. And her father disappeared.

“Can you hear me?” Vicki asked.

“Yes. I’m awake.”

“How do you feel?”

Maya reached beneath the bedsheet and felt the bandage that covered her injured leg. If she moved her body quickly, there was a sharp pain, like being jabbed with the point of a knife. If she remained stationary, it felt like someone had burned her skin with a branding iron. Thorn had taught her that you couldn’t ignore pain; you tried to reduce it to a specific point that was isolated from the rest of your body.

She looked around the room and remembered being placed in the bed. They were in a beach house on the coast of Cape Cod, the curving Massachusetts peninsula that jutted into the Atlantic Ocean. Vicki, Gabriel, and Hollis had driven her there after spending several hours at a private clinic run by a doctor in Boston. The doctor was a member of Vicki’s church who used the house as a summer retreat.

“Do you want another pill?”

“No pills. Where’s Gabriel?”

“He’s walking on the beach. Don’t worry. Hollis is guarding him.”

“How long have I been asleep?”

“About eight or nine hours.”

“Find Gabriel and Hollis,” Maya said. “Pack everything up. We have to keep moving.”

“That’s not necessary. We’re safe here-at least for a few days. Nobody knows we’re at the house except Dr. Lewis and he believes in Debt Not Paid. He’d never betray a Harlequin.”

“The Tabula are looking for us.”

“No one’s walking on the beach because it’s too cold. The house next door is empty for the winter. Most of the stores in the village are closed and we haven’t seen any surveillance cameras.”

Vicki looked strong and sure of herself, and Maya found herself remembering the timid church girl she approached in the Los Angeles airport just a few weeks ago. Everything had changed, moved forward, because of the Traveler.

“I need to see Gabriel.”

“He’ll be back in a few minutes.”

“Help me up, Vicki. I don’t want to be in bed.”

Maya used her elbows to push her body up. The pain came again, but she was able to control the expression on her face. Standing on her good leg, she threw one arm around Vicki’s shoulder and the two women moved slowly out of the bedroom and down a hallway.

With each halting step, Vicki gave Maya more information. After they had fled the Evergreen Foundation Research Center, Dr. Richardson had kept her from dying as Hollis drove to Boston. At this moment, Richardson was traveling to Canada to stay with an old college friend who owned a dairy farm in Newfoundland. Hollis had parked his truck in a poor neighborhood and left the keys in the ignition. Now they were using a delivery van owned by another member of Vicki’s church.

The beach house had a thick Berber carpet; the wood and leather furniture was clean and simple. A sliding glass door led to a deck and Maya got Vicki to take her outside. When Maya lay down on a chaise longue she realized how much effort it had taken to walk thirty feet. Sweat covered her face and her body began to shiver.

Vicki went back into the house and returned with a blanket. She wrapped it tightly around Maya’s lower body and the Harlequin began to feel comfortable. The house was built next to sand dunes dotted with wild rose and beach grass and dark green heather. There was enough wind to push the dry blades of grass back and forth and Maya could smell the ocean. A solitary tern circled above the women as if searching for a resting place.

Wooden steps led from the deck to the beach. The tide was out and Gabriel stood about five hundred feet away from her at the edge of the sea. Hollis sat on the sand, halfway between the house and the Traveler. He had something on his lap, wrapped in a bright beach towel, and Maya assumed it was her shotgun. There was no need for a Harlequin at this peaceful, isolated house. Vicki and Hollis had arranged everything without her. She was supposed to protect Gabriel, but he was the one who had risked his life to carry her out of the tunnels.

The overcast sky and the gray-green water merged into each other; it was difficult to see the horizon. Each wave collapsed with a hushing sound, the water flowing across the packed sand and then returning to the sea. Gabriel wore jeans and a dark sweatshirt; it seemed that if he took just one more step he would be absorbed by the grayness and vanish from this world.

The Traveler turned away from the water and looked back at the house. “He sees us,” Vicki said.

Maya felt like a child wrapped up in the blanket, but she sat quietly as the men left the beach and climbed up the steps to the deck. Gabriel stood near the railing while Hollis grinned and approached her. “Maya! How you feeling? We didn’t think you’d wake up for a few days.”

“I’m all right. We need to contact Linden.”

“I already did that from a cybercafé in Boston. He’ll send money to three different locations in New England.”

“Is that all he said?”

“According to Linden, Sparrow’s son has disappeared. I guess the Tabula found out that he was-”

Vicki interrupted. “Let’s make some coffee, Hollis.”

“I don’t want any.”

“Other people might.” There was a slight change in Vicki’s voice that reminded Maya of the soft pressure from someone’s hand. Hollis appeared to get the message.

“Right. Of course. Fresh coffee.” Hollis glanced back at Gabriel, and then followed Vicki into the house.

Now they were alone, but Gabriel still didn’t speak. A flock of seabirds appeared in the distance, the black specks circling into a tight funnel that slowly began to descend to the earth.

“Dr. Lewis said you’ll be able to walk in a month or so. You’re lucky that the bullet didn’t shatter the bone.”

“We can’t stay here that long,” Maya said.

“Vicki has a lot of contacts through her church and Hollis knows people from the martial arts world. I think we’ll have plenty of places to hide until we get false ID cards and passports.”

“Then we should leave the United States.”

“I’m not sure about that. People want to believe there’s a tropical island or a cave in the mountains where you can hide, but that’s not true anymore. Like it or not, we’re all connected to one another.”

“The Tabula will be searching for you.”

“Yes. And my brother will be helping them.” Gabriel sat beside her, looking tired and sad. “When we were growing up, I felt like Michael and I were fighting the whole world together. I would have done anything for my brother. I trusted him completely.”

Maya remembered the dream of the Underground-her father’s sadness-and allowed herself to feel pity for another human being. She offered her hand and Gabriel held it tightly. His warm skin touched her coldness; she felt transformed. It wasn’t happiness. No, happiness was a childish, temporary illusion. The pain within her melted away and she felt like the two of them had created a center, a constancy, a whole.

“I don’t know if my father is still alive, and Michael has turned against me,” Gabriel said. “But I feel connected to you, Maya. You’re important to me.”

He looked at her with an intense energy in his eyes, then let go of her hand and stood up quickly. Their closeness was painful; it felt as if they had crossed a line.

Alone and unprotected, Gabriel walked back down the steps to the sand. Maya remained on the deck, trying to control her feelings. If she wanted to protect this Traveler, then she couldn’t allow herself to care for him. Any emotion would only make her hesitant and vulnerable. If she allowed that weakness, she might lose him forever.

Help me, she thought. It was the first time she had ever prayed. Please help me. Show me what I need to do.

A cold wind touched her black hair and she felt a quickness in her body, a gathering strength. So many people drifted through their lives, acting out roles for others and not recognizing their true destinies. All the doubts and hesitations she felt in London had vanished. Maya knew who she was: a Harlequin. Yes, it would be difficult, but she would stay with Gabriel.

She sat up slightly and looked toward the ocean. The flock of seabirds was resting on the beach and, as the Traveler approached them, they rose up to heaven, keening and calling to each other.