Sky: 1 December 2015, Midday, Wright’s Homestead
I wish we wouldn’t have as many crisis alerts as we do. I don’t know how other people manage life. For us, crisis mode is a familiar state. Either imposed on us from outside, like now with the police, or through past trauma being triggered. It’s exhausting.
My gaze swings around the common room. Everyone huddles around Ama. Except for Elise, of course. She’s never been here. We are just getting used to her, and she to us. Not that she’s trying hard. She spends half of her time wishing we were just a nightmare she could wake up from sooner or later. Well, I have news for her. Sorry, babe, we are here to stay. Although, I have to admit it surprised me when she wished she could find refuge in the tree house. Does that mean we’re making progress?
While we have our meeting in the tree house, Elise is with the body, sitting at the table in the living space, staring into the woods, as if she could find answers among the trees. Prince is sitting at her side and she absentmindedly strokes his head. She draws comfort from his presence and that comfort ripples through to us. I’m proud of her. Even though she was anxious, she performed well when the police arrived.
I’ll check on her later. At the moment, we have to put everything we know on the table. We are so used to putting information into different places that pulling it all together and forming a coherent story is hard. I imagine it’s like eels. You think you’ve caught one and next minute the slimy beast slips through your fingers.
Lilly’s nod urges me to start the meeting. She hates waiting. Maddie sits on a cushion in the corner huddled up to Toby. Her lips are trembling in an attempt to suppress crying. She tries to be such a big girl.
Lilly spots her distress and gives her voice a soothing tone. “Maddie, you are safe now. Tell us, what are you upset about?”
“The polithe woman, ze one with ze glathes, I zee her in ze bad room where daddy takes us.” Maddie puts her thumb into her mouth and looks at me. Her words fall into the room like a bomb. Everyone is quiet. No more talking among us. Stunned the Tribe looks at me, and my brain races at a hundred miles an hour.
“The black hatchback that followed us parked opposite the lawyer’s when we left. Elise almost nicked it.” Luke’s words splash into the silence like a rock plunging into a lake, making them ripple through the room and suddenly everyone talks at the same time.
“Hang on. Stop. I have to think.” I know I’m missing something important. There is more to our dilemma than we ever imagined. How are we a threat to people here so that they follow us and kill Patrick?
“Let me recap what we know. First, if they were waiting for us, they knew who we are and what Patrick had found out.”
“And that it would be a threat to them.”
“Yes, Lilly. Second, the police already had Helen’s missing person report. Third, there is the marriage to Horace, and fourth, Elizabeth’s parent’s estate.”
“Why would they kill Patrick if he’d already informed the police about the fake marriage documents? Unless they were afraid about his plan to follow the money trail of the parent’s estate. What do you think, Luke?”
“I think everyone is making valid points. It’s not easy to put oneself into a criminal’s mind. I fail to see why all these issues you raised should result in murder. Horace is dead and Helen would be collateral damage. Why kill Patrick? Unless the Gateway people want to make sure that abuse allegations won’t see the light of day. Actually, they must have lots they don’t want to become known if they are resorting to killing. We might not know the half of it.”
Lilly shakes her head. “We’re missing something. If the policewoman is connected to childhood abuse, then… doesn’t that imply they also fear we’ll expose the whole Gateways organization?”
Amadeus laughs out loud and we all glare at him. “Do you think anybody gives a damn what we are saying? With no proof other than our word? The word of a certified lunatic with a mile-long record of mental illness? Whatever happened, and we don’t even recall it all, happened over thirty years ago. Please! Wake up, guys. We’re up against rich people with connections everywhere.”
I’m annoyed with Amadeus. He may be right but painting a doom and gloom picture is not doing us any good. Haven’t we escaped our prison and isn’t freedom from the past in our grasp?
“We can’t give up now. We need help, and I’m not sure how to go about it. To go to another lawyer means putting his or her safety at risk.”
“Easy for you to say, Sky. You don’t have to fight in the trenches. Helen and Horace are connected to the Gateway people up north and they are connected to the Gateway people here. And this is where you bring us? How come you never thought about that connection?”
Amadeus’ accusation is slicing through me, hurting just as much as if he’d used a sword. I thought I was clear about my choice of coming to the West Coast. “There is a lot we haven’t noticed, because… just because we are who we are. I brought us here because I don’t believe we will ever be safe, no matter where we go until we deal with the past. As it turns out, there is more to it than us processing trauma and working toward integration. Yet, I still believe we will find our answers here.”
Lilly gets up from the ground and lifts her arm. “The last thing we need is fighting among us. We did the best we could. Period. And the drugs they gave us didn’t help either.” She giggles as
