“I wish it was that easy.” Melody takes a break from the lesson to adjust the heated fireplace. A slight tinge of guilt seeps in; she does miss her family, but that’s not the main reason why she is distracted today.
“Does that mean you have to go away too?” Rebecca does not hide her sadness.
“Who else left, sweetie?”
“My Popa.” Her adolescent voice breaks a little.
“Your dad?”
“Him too, but I mean granddad. Uncle Will says he left to go on some big trip.”
So far, Melody has heard very little about Will and Max’s father. To help console her student, she asks, “Where did he go?”
“I don’t know. Somewhere far; I know there’s a beach there.” Her voice trails off a little, “I just wish he’d come back already and see me, even if he doesn’t bring me a doll. He’s been gone a terribly long time and,” Rebecca looks up at Melody, fighting tears in her bright eyes, “I don’t want you to go away also, Miss. I like when you teach me and Sarah.” She pats her strawberry blonde haired doll sitting in a chair beside her.
Melody kneels down beside Rebecca and strokes her doll’s hair, “I love teaching you too.” She does not have it in her heart to tell her at some point she will have to leave the island.
“Can you promise you’ll come back tomorrow?”
“Nothing can stop me.” They return to their class and the rest of the day goes by swiftly.
That night, Melody calls home to a voice she has missed hearing for weeks now. It is her friend Brad in Boston who answers. “What took you so long to call?” Just hearing his voice soothes her and she knows that’s what she needed to get her mind off her troubles on the island.
“I’m sorry Brad, trying to find a network here is harder than scoring tickets at Fenway Park.”
“How’s your “book”?”
“How’s your book Mr. Writer?” Melody can already guess what his answer will be.
“I’m still looking for inspiration. You know me.” He chuckles and snorts over the phone.
“I do. I really miss you. You don’t know what it’s like to hear an American accent again.”
“Well, come home then.”
She sighs, “You know I can’t yet. I have to...”
“Yeah, but hurry okay? Those emails you sent me about the people there kinda have me worried.”
There’s a pause on the line as Melody thinks.
“What do you want?”
“How do you always know when I’m about to ask for a favor?” Melody and Brad have been friends for so long that they don’t even need to be in the same room to know what the other is thinking. “Okay I need your help with my research. Like I told you, the connection here on the island is horrible so I thought maybe you could help me research some people from over there?”
“So, is it just surface info or do I need to get Troy involved?” Troy grew up with Brad. For as long as Brad can remember, Troy has been a hacker. He broke into his middle school system on the last day of school and gave all the students A’s. Now he freelances as a cyber security expert for Fortune 500 companies and once in a while sources Brad with access to major historical findings that are not common knowledge for the public. Brad says he’ll use it in his novel, but Melody is yet to see it.
“You might need Troy since this is international.” Melody lowers her voice even though she is the only one in the room, “I want to know if any Deacons, Rob Maclean or Tam, I mean Thomas, have a criminal past. I’m sending you their full names now.”
“Wait, criminal? I don’t like the sound of this. Has anything happened since your last email?”
“No,” Melody fibs. The last email Melody sent him was about the incident in the forest. She cringes because she doesn’t want to lie to her best friend. This is the first… the only time she has lied to him. Being on the island just seems to have had an effect on her, stretching the truth is coming more naturally to Melody than before – first her name and reason for being there, then how she hurt her ankle and now, regretfully to her best friend. It’s as if she is becoming a new person. Brad knows nothing about Rob and Tam or her injury and she wants to keep it that way. “Nothing.” She reasons that she is protecting him. He’d only worry, anyway.
“Are you sure you want to be there long enough to find out?” Brad is the voice of reason and Melody is the risk-taker. It’s worked well so far for them, but now that she is thousands of miles away, Brad is having a hard time convincing her to walk away from danger.
But Melody likes to complete her projects and see her promises through to the finish, that’s why it irks her that Brad is still “working” on his novel.
“Look, there’s a police officer on the island. If I think the worst might happen, I’ll contact him.” Brad concedes, expressing that he is just worried, then he agrees to help her. Melody, however, is not sure if she mentioned the police to reassure Brad or herself.
Chapter 3
It is Sunday. A week has gone by and Melody is now starting her first full week back at work. Come to think of it, this is the only job where Melody has worked six days instead of five, she rests on Saturdays.
This reminds her of an Israeli dig she read about in her junior year. A group found ancient scrolls pointing to how societies used to work six days a week and rest on the seventh. It was the first time
