Jonah Read online

  The only thing Zion brought into the house was a lumpy bag. She parked it near the back door. He showed her Jo's room; she thanked him for his trouble, and apologized for the inconvenience. He can't seem to get it across—the house is hers! But she did have the insight, or heart to show her pleasure for the blue spread, in Coral Kay's presence, and maybe she meant it.

  Totally irrational for him to fear she might take off—she said she came home because she had no other place to go, didn't she? Yes, but that was before Aunt Triss showed up, before they had their little pow-wow out in the lawn chairs. Distinct feeling she was testing him, then. Can I live around this bozo? Do I want to? Do I have to?

  Returned with the salad and pizza, Jonah is disturbed to see that Zion's bag is still parked near the back door. It should be in Jo's room. He doesn't like it over there. It might have legs and car keys. Might sneak out the door when his back is turned. X Files is on. Jonah prepares a tray for Triss, takes it downstairs, makes sure she has everything she needs, and up the stairs he goes.

  No sense trying to put on any airs at the dinner table tonight, but he is embarrassed that Zion's homecoming dinner is out of a cardboard box.

  As soon as he clears away the pizza mess, Coral Kay has all seven of her Barbie dolls out on the table. She's jabbering in a kind of Barbilese stream of consciousness that invites no comment. She seems satisfied that her audience is spellbound, but from where Jonah stands, Zion appears to be less than fully engaged. He's picking up a lot of tension.

  “Would you care for an after-pizza drink?”

  “Daddy!” Coral stamps her foot. “It's my turn!”

  “Don't let me butt in, Sugar, you just keep right on.” He gestures at Zion. “Peppermint tea?”

  Her stare is a yes, a no, an indication she has slipped into another zone. Coral has already dismissed him, picking up where she left off, or beginning a new tangent, hard to tell.

  He's lousy at reading a woman's mind but senses Zion is about to cast sails. And if I allow her to leave, our lives will take off in different ships, never again to meet in the same waters. Thoughts spewing from a strange spigot inside his head, but maybe not….

  “I'm sorry,” Jonah thinks she says.

  She's shaking her head; she looks bewildered, as if suddenly finding herself in a men's lavatory. Someone warned him about this…that she would probably experience some disorientation.

  “I think I made a mistake.” Standing up, she bangs her knee on the table and winces with pain.

  Jonah moves so quickly, Coral falls forward, arms out, protecting her dolls from the giant flying across the room.

  He grasps Zion's arm. “You haven't made a mistake. It's safe here. We fixed up a comfortable place for you. Please, give it a chance.”

  His cheeks flush, all the work he did to re-create himself into a Clint Eastwood type who can take ‘em or leave ‘em, down the tube. He stands exposed, a lonely man.

  “I don't know what's the matter with me,” she says, retracting her arm, leaning away from his intense look.

  “Sorry if I scared you, but you just seemed so fragile a minute ago.”

  “I'm fine.” She sits down again. Picks up one of Coral's dolls. “Did you say this is Barbie-Jennifer?”

  Coral gives her father a dirty look.

  “I'll look in on Aunt Triss, make sure she's comfortable for the night. Excuse me, ladies. Oh. Zion? Can I take your bag into your room?”

  She nods.

  Why does everything have to happen tonight? he wonders, going down the stairs. Life isn't supposed to be this way anymore. Simple means slow and easy, smooth and orderly. What happened to his plan?

  “Man downstairs!” he warns, peering around the corner.

  It kind of hurts his heart, seeing his fine old aunt making the best of the dreary den. There's no lamp, only the overhead tube lights, and some diffused lighting over the wet bar. X Files is over, and the Hide-A-Bed is made up with sheets dingier than the ones on Zion's bed. The blankets are old and musty and her pillow is probably so saturated with cat hairs, she'll have to wrap a towel around it.

  Boxes and bags clutter the south end of the room. A suitcase is open on top of the warped pool table. Against the west wall, violins. He counts four, three full-sized, one miniature. All of the Mahoney women were musical, his mother playing the piano, Aunt Coral, the flute. But Aunt Triss was the only professional, playing a stint in the ‘70s with some East Coast philharmonic symphony orchestra; he can't remember the city. Met and married cellist Theodore Carlotti. He remembers Carlotti because he always sent a check on Christmas. When Carlotti retired, he and Triss moved to St. Petersburg, Florida, where both played chamber music until he died. Then she gave violin lessons—but that was years ago. She's lived a couple of lifetimes since then.

  “It's not exactly the Comfort Inn,” he says, slumping into the only chair, an old beat-up Queen Ann. “Sorry about the accommodations.”

  “I'm the one who needs to beg your forgiveness, John—oops—Jonah. I could have written, could have had those young men dig deeper for your telephone number. These electronic wizards can acquire any kind of information, provided you pay them for their services. I hope you don't rely on the Web, unless you don't mind the government poking into your private matters.”

  “I've managed to resist so far. But I'm not worried about the government. Are you one of those conspiracy theorists, Aunt Triss?” he teases.

  “I happen to be privy to some very strange stories, having to do with covering up the truth about UFOs.”

  “The truth is out there,” Jonah says. It was only recently, he got rid of his TV. He was becoming a junkie. “You believe in UFOs?” He kind of likes the idea of his Aunt Beatrice Mary being into UFOs.

  “Go ahead, laugh.” She flips her hand. “I've seen not one, but three, on three different nights. Maurice and I lived near Gulf Breeze, a virtual sky highway for UFOs. We used to sit with a group of people out on the beach at night with binoculars, cameras, and video machines, until it got to be too hard on Maurice. I found it so exciting, he had to practically drag me home at two, three in the morning. But it was worth it.”

  “I've heard stories,” Jonah says. One about there being an air base close to Gulf Breeze, not to mention the action at Cape Canaveral. To change the subject, he nods at the violins. “You still play, give lessons?”

  “I don't need to anymore, and it kicks up my arthritis, but I still teach in special cases. I hope you don't mind if I teach Coral Kay the fundamentals. Mahoney women and musical instruments go together.

  “May I ask why you took on your mother's name?”

  He's anxious to get back upstairs. Water is running up there—is Zion taking a shower? Running a bath for Coral? He gives his aunt the short story about the name change, wonders if he should say something about the cottage now. Decides against it. How must it feel for an older woman to travel clear across the continent with only the faith that the Mahoney heart will not fail her?

  “You walked into a peculiar situation, Aunt Triss.”

  “If you mean your girlfriend, I'm not judgmental, Jonah.”

  “She's not my girlfriend. I barely know her. She's the owner of the property.”

  His aunt claps both hands over her mouth. “Oh…she must think I'm the queen of rudeness! How presumptuous of me…oh, goodness, the way I was going on about that little dollhouse. Was she planning on staying out there?”

  “She's real unsettled right now. We'll figure it out.”

  “I'm so embarrassed. I shouldn't have come like this.”

  Jonah assures her he's glad she came. He's not telling the whole truth, but he can't bear the idea of her ending up in some old folks' home. She's so vital, not really that old. And Coral Kay is really jazzed with her.

  He gives her a hug, and up the stairs he goes, ragged with hope that Zion will stay up a while and talk with him. Does she hear the winds of destiny blowing around the house?

  The only light is the blue dig
ital numbers on the microwave clock. The door to Jo's room is shut. But Coral Kay is sitting cross-legged atop her bed, jabbering to her dolls. Her hair is still damp from a bath.

  “Zion went to bed already?” He can't help it; he balls a fist and slams his hand.

  “I'm not a bit tired,” Coral says.

  Chapter M (13)

  Life is a balancing act. The woman Jonah aches to spend more time with has needs of her own, and before him is the love of his life, a female willing to be his company.

  “Aren't we lucky, Daddy? Like two mothers! Are they like mothers, Daddy?”

  “Not like my mother, although Aunt Triss reminds me a lot of her.”

  “Aunt Coral died, huh?”

  “A couple of months after you were born. She wanted to make sure you got the pretty blanket you let Zion use. That was very thoughtful and kind of you, Sugar. I'm sure Zion will sleep better for it.”

  “Daddy…will you tell me the story of old Abra Cadabra again? I want to remember about the Angelinos.”

  And why is this strange after all the other weird events today? It's been a long time since he has recited the story to Coral; he's surprised she remembers it. What's more surprising is that he still remembers it after all these years. Did he hear it from Aunt Triss first? He'll have to ask her.

  “Once upon a time in a faraway land…” He shuts the door, turns on her clown lamp, flips off the overhead light, sits down on the bed and puts his arm around Coral.

  Once upon a time in a faraway land…might have happened in Moldavia or Rumania, we're not sure…a huge comet crashed into the Earth, moving mountains around and shutting off one small valley from the rest of the world. In time the people in the valley adjusted to their loneliness, but they were still plain people with plain problems.

  Before the mountains moved, when the people in the valley had problems they couldn't solve, they would send out word for the gypsies to swing by, or they would travel to a nearby city and consult the oracles. Shut off from the rest of the world now, they sorely hoped nothing would happen they couldn't solve themselves.

  Now, they had an old wise woman right in their midst, but while her magic was powerful, her prices were more than anyone wanted to pay. She could solve any problem, answer any question, but in exchange she demanded you give her your most prized possession. And she knew exactly what everyone had and what each prized the most. There was no fooling old Abra Cadabra.

  Coral giggles.

  Well, the situation being what it was, people were forced to use Abra for their source of divination. And for a time it seemed a workable arrangement, because no one had any desperate problems. But you know how it is with plain people who live in plain valleys. Sooner or later big problems come, as surely as winds in the month of March.

  Such a problem finally came and it happened to the nicest, plainest family in the valley…the—

  'Angelinos!' (The child never forgets.)

  There was Daddy and Mommy Angelino and a little girl named Crystal, and her baby brother, Gabriel. Problem was, the baby got so sick the doctor said that without divine help, Gabriel was going to die.

  Now, old Abra, being the only divine help available, had accumulated quite a stash of valuables. She had so many gold coins, they filled several rooms, and every drawer and cupboard and shelf in her house was full of treasures, and her yard sparkled with all kinds of precious toys and trinkets. Why, Abra had such a stash, she didn't need one more gold or silver anything. And even if she wanted more, there were no more places to put them!

  The Angelinos were no dummies. The day they went up to the old hag's castle, they were sorely afraid. But what else could they do? Gabriel was so weak, they were afraid he'd die before they got up the hill!

  Old Abra's yard was such a treasure trove, they had to push stuff out of the way to get to the door of the castle. A pure gold baby buggy on the porch! When old Abra opened the door, it made a loud noise like rusted metal grating against rock. Up went the Angelinos' elbows, to cover their faces, because old Abra was not a pleasant sight. Mole right here—so big it looked like she had two noses. Her teeth were long and snaggled and she cackled, yes, she did.

  “Come in!” she said, like these were guests arriving for a party.

  Ushering his poor plain family into the castle, Daddy Angelino spread his arms like wings to encircle his wife and children. So much stuff cluttering the entry way, it took them many minutes to get to the great room, and of course they were moving slowly because they were scared.

  Abra was sitting on a big throne, a gift from the mayor, in exchange for a herb she had given him, which had cured a personal problem that little girls know nothing about, thank goodness.

  “So what's your problem?” said the old hag, as if it weren't plain to see. Poor little Gabriel was so frail by then, he was practically a skeleton.

  “Dear, kind Abra,” said Daddy Angelino, showing her the respect she demanded. “Our son is beyond medical help and without your magic, he will die.”

  “I can fix that easy!” bragged the old hag, sounding happy that this tragedy had fallen upon the gentle Angelinos.

  “For your kindness, we wish to give you this.” Daddy Angelino pulled from his pocket a small leather pouch, containing an emerald brooch that had belonged to his grandmother.

  Old Abra's hand shot out like a claw. She smacked the precious jewel and it fell on the marble floor, shattering into a hundred pieces.

  “I hate liars!” she screamed.

  The Angelinos started crying.

  “You know my price—your most prized possession!”

  Coral Kay says sadly, “It's the children….”

  Yes. To save Gabriel's life, the Angelinos must surrender Crystal to old Abra. We cannot describe in words how the Angelinos felt that day, but we know the pain was more than plain people should have to bear. All we know for sure is, Crystal stayed with old Abra Cadabra, that Gabriel might live.

  And he did, growing up to be a strong young man. Not only strong, but he grew to be very wise, so wise, he began to develop some magic of his own. When people started coming to him with their problems, he refused to take anything as payment! Not that he didn't demand a price, he did. He insisted that everyone who came to him learn his magic, and by and by, they all learned to solve their own problems.

  One day Gabriel called everyone together for a community meeting at the park at the bottom of the hill. He asked if anyone had any unsolved problems, and there was a resounding no!

  “Well, I have one,” Gabriel admitted. “My beloved sister Crystal is still a prisoner in Abra's castle, and my magic is not enough to free her.” Then he proposed something daring. “We are all wise, every one, and we have learned the magic of solving our own problems. Now it is time we learn to solve the greater problems that plague us all. We have been shut off from the world too long by these mountains that have moved around us like a great wall. Together we can flatten those mountains—I know we can!” A great cheer rang out.

  “But first, to prove we can do it, together we will melt that castle!” Another cheer rang out, but though the second proposal was not as challenging as flattening a range of mountains, the sound the people made was less cheerful, because everyone was still afraid of old Abra. Maybe she would put a hex on them and destroy the magic they had found. But the people owed a debt to Gabriel, because he had taught them magic.

  So they all linked arms, Daddy and Mommy Angelino, too, and they formed a circle, and started dancing, first turning to the right, then to the left, and a strange new song they began to sing, not even knowing the words. The music was so beautiful, they sang it louder and louder, and they danced up a frenzy. The sound was a love sound, they could feel it, and it made them so joyous they almost forgot why they were dancing. So they were shocked when all of a sudden up on the hill, the castle walls came thundering down in a crash. Everyone screamed, but they weren't afraid for long, because they saw a beautiful woman with ruby-red hair running down the hil
l.

  Gabriel couldn't remember his sister, but he knew immediately who she was, so he ran up the hill and embraced her. All of the people started clapping and crying and hugging each other, and Daddy and Mommy Angelino were crying tears of pride and joy.

  “You tricked us!” the mayor yelled at Gabriel. “You used us to free your sister, and now our magic is spent!”

  Just then, old Abra Cadabra came stumbling down the hill. Her hair had turned a smoky yellow color, she'd lost all of her teeth, and she was bent over and shriveled like a prune.

  Everyone gasped in surprise, and someone said, “The old hag has lost her magic!”

  “Surely not!” said Daddy Angelino. “For if that be true, our daughter would have come home.”

  As if to read their minds and make the mystery more, Crystal went over to Abra and put her arms around the old woman.

  “It is true,” said the one they all knew to be Crystal. “Abra did lose her magic long ago. But while I was with her, I learned the ways of love, so I could not abandon her, lest she surely die.”

  “We are going to flatten the mountains!” Gabriel interrupted with a shout, confused by all this talk about love that chooses to remain a prisoner, and anyway, he was anxious to prove the mayor wrong, who said their magic was spent.