Talisman (24 page)

We had the entire living room packed up in about two hours.  Every accessory had been wrapped and carefully placed in boxes, and we were ready to move on to the dining room.  Mr. Mayfield,
our town’s local handy man, finally arrived.  Ty stepped outside to greet him.  Ms. Sutherland had mentioned to us a few minutes ago that he would be by to pick up a set of keys he’d accidentally left here last night.

An opportunity presented itself.  Ms. Sutherland was
still in the kitchen, but she would have to pass through the living room on her way out to give Mr. Mayfield back his keys.  I’d noticed she wasn’t using her cane. 
Why would she in her own house?
 
I could stack a bunch of boxes in the doorway and let her think I was outside, but I’ll hide in here
. 
That way, when she sees the obstruction and thinks that no one is around to catch her, she’ll have to maneuver around them.

Busted
, I predicted with a gleam in my eyes.

I hurried over and stacked several boxes in the doorway.  I kind of got carried away and positioned them so ther
e wasn’t any way around.  She would definitely have to move them. 
Booby trap set
, I confirmed.

“Ms. Sutherland…
Mr. Mayfield’s here.  I’m going out to say hi to him,” I called out.

“Oh, please tell him
that I’ll be out there in a second with his keys,” she called back from the kitchen.

“Will do,” I replied with a grin.

I slammed the door shut, tiptoed back into the living room, and crouched down behind the yellow-checked sofa.  I heard the faint sound of footsteps creaking along the hardwood floor that flowed throughout the house.  The sounds were getting louder and heading this way.  I peered around the corner and waited patiently out-of-sight.

Just a few more seconds
…

I spotted her shadow
rounding the corner.  She stepped through the doorway and…
began to crash right into my pyramid of boxes!
  From out of nowhere, Ty burst into the room and was by her side to catch her, right before she hit the floor.

“I’ve got you, Bea!
  Are you
okay?
” Ty asked anxiously.

“Oh
yes, Tyler.  Goodness!  I really need to be more careful.  I’m so used to my surroundings that I’d forgotten they were in the process of being altered today.  I should have known better and had my cane ready.  Really, Tyler…I’m fine, dear.  I sure do appreciate you breaking my fall.  I hope I didn’t hurt you.  Did I break anything?”

“No, Ma’am. 
I’m fine and so are your things.  These boxes are marked, ‘pillows & draperies’, nothing breakable in them.  I just want to make sure that
you’re okay
.”

I could hear the worry in his voice.  It was obvious he was quite fond of her.
  I remained hidden behind the sofa, wallowing in my shame.  My quest for answers had almost come at Bea’s expense.

What was I
THINKING?  She could’ve really been hurt
.  I felt horrible, absolutely horrible! My suspicions had taken a backseat to my humility — not to mention,
my guilt
.

“I’ll get these
out of your way and carried out to the van.”  Ty picked up the keys she had dropped and handed them back to her.  “You can go ahead and give these to Mr. Mayfield,” he insisted.  “You’ve got a clear path to the front door.  There’s
nothing
in the way.”

“Thank you, Tyler,” Ms.
Sutherland replied gratefully.

As I peeked
out from behind the sofa, I saw her giving his cheek a few gentle pats.  Quickly, I pulled back, so I could remain out of Ty’s sight.  I heard the door open and then slam shut.  Ms. Sutherland was finally outside.

One down, one to go
…

Patiently, I waited for the sounds of Ty lugging the knocked over boxes out to the van — but they
never
came.  I sat there thinking,
What’s he waiting on?
  My patience was starting to wear thin.  The next thing I knew, a growing shadow was approaching the end of the sofa where I was hiding.

“She’s gone,
Shi
,” Ty announced in a scathing tone.  “You can get up
now
.”

He sounded really pissed.  I grimaced and mouthed
silently,
Shit
.  I was mortified.  Slowly, I rose from my spot to see an extremely irritated Tyler Smith.

“Where’s your head, Shi?
” Ty demanded.  “
SERIOUSLY?
”  Ty’s tone was bad enough, but his expression left me with no doubts regarding his current emotions.

Time to cover my ass
.  “What are you talking about?” I posed, playing clueless.

Ty’s
mouth flew open as he let out a disbelieving grunt.  “You
KNOW
what I’m talking about. 
I saw you
. I saw you through the front window.”

I scanned over to the bay window, which was now naked and drapery-free.  Shamefaced, I slowly turned ba
ck to witness his fixed stare.

“You stacked those boxes there
on purpose, and then you hid behind the sofa,” Ty charged.  “
For what?
  To
watch
her fall?”

“Not
exactly
,” I replied sheepishly as I passed him and then bolted into the dining room. 
This sure has gone from bad to worse
.  He followed right behind me.  There was no avoiding this exchange.

“Wait a second.  What do you mean,
‘not exactly’?
” Ty asked.

I paused to contemplate whether or not I should reveal my suspicions about Ms. Sutherland.  If I told him
that I doubted she was blind, he would probably think that I’m
crazy
.  On the other hand, if I didn’t give him a good reason, he would most likely assume I’d done it out of shear meanness, and that I was a despicable, horrible person.  I looked at the confused expression on the handsome face of the boy I’d had a crush on for years.  His blue eyes widened with every lingering moment of my silence.

Well
…I can live with “crazy”
.

Nervously, I started assembling a box for the china plates.  “I was just conducting a little
experiment
,” I mumbled.

Ty’s
eyes swelled at such an alarming rate I thought they were going to pop right out of his head.

“What kind of
‘
experiment’?
  How many bones you can break in a blind old lady’s body?”  His question reeked with disgust and sarcasm.

“NO!”
I objected.  I took a deep breath and let out a long sigh.  “I wanted to see if she truly is…
blind
.”  I didn’t want to see the look on his face, not after that admission, so I started wrapping dinner plates while I nervously waited for his response to my “truthful”, yet on the surface, completely “insane” reason.

“If she’s
truly blind?
” Ty repeated, open-mouthed.  He was definitely dumbfounded, but at least he didn’t look as irate.  “Why would you
EVER THINK
she
wasn’t?
” Ty questioned.  “We’ve both known her for years…Shiloh, she’s
always
been like that.”

I placed the wrapped dis
hes in a box and turned to face him.  “
I know
, but the other day I felt like she was…
watching me
.  I could feel her eyes on me.   It’s hard to describe, but it was like she wasn’t only looking at me, but into my soul…or
something
.”

That ought to tighten up the last strap on my straightjacket
, I confirmed quietly.

Ty
tilted his head back and shook it while he stared at the ceiling.  “That’s crazy, Shiloh. 
Utterly crazy!
”  He walked away asking, “Why would sweet old Bea ever do something like
THAT?
”

He was almost out of the room.  “Ty —
Wait!
  You’ve been working here for the past few years.  Has there ever been a time when you’ve felt like that?” I pleaded.  “Like she’s
watching
you?”

Ty
stopped and turned his head slightly. “No,” he answered flatly.

I h
ad to stop him from leaving, so I dashed over and threw myself in front of him, blocking the doorway.  Without thinking, I grabbed his arms.  I could feel his muscles contracting through his shirt.

“
Never?
” I pressed.  “You’ve
NEVER
felt or noticed
anything? 
Anything strange at all?”

Ty didn’t move.  I was in no way, shape, or form
as strong as he was, but something had him planted in place, motionless.  His head was cocked to the side, staring silently down at the floor.  The handsome jock was thinking long and hard about something.  My hands guided his head towards mine, until we were staring in each other’s eyes.

Ty yielded a sigh. 
“
Maybe
…Yeah, maybe,” he muttered.

As I stared up at Ty, I noticed some reservation h
iding behind his deep blue eyes.  Without a doubt, he was leery about something.

“
What Ty?
  What have you noticed?” I asked eagerly, breathless with anticipation.

“Last fall, I was here with another volunteer, Clayton Myers.  He was up on the roof fixing a couple of loose shingles for Bea.  When he was coming down, he slipped and fell off the ladder.  As soon as he hit the ground, I heard a loud crack.  He was in a lot of pain, so I checked leg.  He couldn’t m
ove it…and his ankle was red and swollen.  I ran inside and called an ambulance.  When I came back out, Bea was sitting on the ground beside him.  She didn’t see me standing there.  She told him to lie still, so she could check it.  She ran her hands all over Clayton’s right ankle and up his leg, for about a minute or two. 
It was really weird.
  Then the ambulance came and took him to the hospital.  I stopped by to check on him on my way home, but he was
fine
.  They said none of his bones were broken, and his leg wasn’t even swollen anymore.  They were just keeping him there because he couldn’t remember what had happened.  They thought he must’ve hit his head.  All I could think about was the cracking sound I’d heard.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that same sound at football practice over the years.  I’d swear on my life that it was broken!”

My hands remained
where they were, locked onto his strong arms.  I could feel my grip tightening as soon as I recognized the familiar air of suspicion in his voice, like a haunting whisper of doubt.  It echoed mine.  Even though I wasn’t there —
I believed him
.

“Shi, I know what I h
eard…and what I saw.  But that’s impossible,
right?
”

“Honestly, Ty…
I don’t know anymore.  The last few days have made me question
everything
around me.”

I suddenly realized my “clutch” had turned unexpectedly into more of an “embrace”.  Helplessly, my eyes began taking in every curve of his
face.  Soon they locked onto his, almost like the two pools of blue were calling me in like a cool lake in the heat of summer.  I wasn’t sure, but I thought I felt him moving slowly towards me.

Abruptly, I pulled away
and grabbed the dishes I’d just laid on the table, pretending to get back to the job at hand.  I was a little uneasy about his intentions.  After all, Ty was Kara’s boyfriend, even if she didn’t seem to openly respect their so-called commitment.

How could I even think about handing out my
“first kiss” to him, only to see him dancing (and who knows what else) with Kara tonight?  Anyway, he may not have been trying to kiss me
.
  He probably just lost his footing or something
.  Either way, I pushed my desires aside as I thought,
I’m
NOT
a second-string player!
  That declaration blared through my head like a bugle sounding at dawn.

Though my back was turned to him, I could feel his eyes on me, which made me feel apprehensive and elated, both at the same time.

Ms. Sutherland entered the room.  “How’s everything coming?” she asked.

If there was ever a moment
in need of a tension breaker, this was definitely one of those.  I thanked the cosmos and went on to reply, “Fine, Ms. Sutherland.  We’ll have you all packed up in no time.”  Ty, however, never said a word.

“I’m sure going to miss this house,”
Ms. Sutherland remarked as she lowered her head and smiled half-heartedly.  I assumed she was probably reminiscing by the way her eyes appeared glassy as she stood there in silence.  Without delay, she began to tear up.  Ms. Sutherland took an extra deep breath as she lifted her head and wiped them away.  “
Now
, it’s okay if you two don’t get finished.  I’ll have the movers do the rest when they come for the furniture next week.  I know you have to leave around 1 o’clock Tyler, and Shiloh, I don’t want to keep you here all day.”