“Lucas, the damage is done. It doesn’t matter if you escaped for two hours, two days, two years. You have escaped, so just chill and let things settle down.”
Lucas placed his head in his hands and rubbed his face. He’s right. The damage is done.
Starkey stood up and let the dogs out. “It’s not going to matter when I send you back, if that’s what you want. Please, just wait until you meet Isabella and then we can discuss things. And I do apologise. I really should have got you out of that prison gear and into some warmer clothing. Come inside.”
Lucas stood up and followed Starkey back inside. The fireplace was crackling. Burning coals had fallen from a log and lay there, glowing. The fireplace communicated a message to Lucas. This was definitely better than where he’d come from but the coals communicated another message.
Think, Lucas. Yes, the fire is nice. Think. Remember those eyes staring back at you like live coals.
<°)))><
Lucas located the source of the chimes. A clock sat on the mantelpiece. It was one of those that chimed and the big hand was moving towards a chime. It chimed eleven times. Lucas decided that clock would eventually drive him crazy.
“I can turn it down if it bothers you,” Starkey said.
Lucas must have given the clock too much attention. He turned to Starkey “It’s okay for now. Hopefully I won’t be here long enough to pick it up and throw it out the window.”
“But you’re not an angry man anymore?”
“Okay, Starkey. No need to belittle me.” Lucas frowned.
“It sounds like you also picked up some intelligence in prison.”
“You’re still belittling me.”
“I’m sorry, Lucas. You know my personal skills always needed refining.” Starkey went over to tend the fire. After moving the protective screen, he took the poker out of the stand next to the fireplace and started making some adjustments to the fire, moving the logs and stirring up the coals. A cloud of smoke rushed up the chimney. Starkey moved the screen back into place.
“What time is your granddaughter coming?”
“I would expect the bus to arrive just after five. I’m thinking we can get some lunch before that. You’re not known around here. Not yet, anyway. There’ll be no wanted posters out. My gut feeling is that they’re going to try and keep your vanishing quiet.” Starkey stared at him and his eyes lit up as if remembering something. “There’s a change of clothes in the room over there.”
Lucas wiggled his toes. “Starkey, won’t they track you down through your granddaughter?” Yep, his toes were cold. “Aren’t you concerned that they’ll have her under surveillance?” There was a loud pop and crackle and a tiny hot ember flew across the screen and landed on Lucas’s foot. Dangerous, but then he looked at the burn marks on the wooden floor surrounding the fireplace and realised it was a common occurrence.
“I’ve stayed away from her for years. No direct contact. The accident brought me out of hiding, although not completely. I didn’t go to the funeral—my daughter would’ve understood that.”
“Don’t you think they know that . . . that your daughter’s death will draw you out? You could even say they caused the accident to bring you out.”
“They wouldn’t do something like that.”
Lucas sensed some doubt in Starkey.
“They wouldn’t do something like that,” he repeated.
“You’d hope not.”
11 – The reason he was here
KILL SOMEBODY TO DRAW SOMEBODY OUT? Lucas didn’t believe the authorities would resort to such measures, even with national security at stake. Or would they?
He looked at Starkey. “Still, don’t you think their deaths may have at least put your daughter back under surveillance?”
“Maybe you’re right, Lucas. Maybe I’ve been a bit lackadaisical about this whole thing. Besides, her mother did give me a warning. She sent me something a few days before the accident. That’s the real reason you’re here, Lucas. Now go get changed. You’re making me feel cold.”
Lucas stood up.
The professor pointed. “Down there, first on left.”
<°)))><
Lucas came back into the living room. The jeans were too long so he sat down near the fire and rolled them up to form cuffs. The fire was generating plenty of heat so he removed the bulky brown jumper to reveal a blue and white lumberjack-styled shirt. He looked up at Starkey, who was staring into the fire. There was a build up of water on the corner of Starkey’s eyes.
“Starkey. You okay?”
The professor wiped the side of his eyes then turned to face Lucas.
“Her name was Lee-Ann Rose and I loved her very much, but I do feel guilty because I was never there and I can’t undo that. So I want to do everything I can to protect her daughter. I’m sorry I’m getting you involved, Lucas. I’m getting muddled in my thinking these days, so maybe I’ve done the wrong thing.”
The professor pulled a note from his shirt pocket. “This may not make much sense to you, Lucas. It didn’t make a lot of sense to me and in some ways I’m still struggling with it. Let me read it to you.”
He was looking for his glasses. Lucas pointed to the coffee table. Starkey grabbed them and rested them mid way down his nose and then started reading:
"You know, Pops, it’s easy for people to only appear in your life once. As you may never see them again, it’s possible that they were messengers from God. Some call them angels and they often take human form. A story in the Bible tells of three strangers who visited Abraham and Sarah, and told Abraham that they were travelling on to Sodom and would possibly have to destroy the city for its wickedness. They were angels in human form. The reason I tell you this is because I believe a messenger appeared to me."
The Professor paused, his eyes still watery
“Angels exist, Starkey. It’s true, and you know I’ve seen them. In human form? Well, why not?”
“Let me continue.”
"There was nothing unusual about this messenger. He reminded me of you in some ways, except for that long beard of yours. He came up to me in our local shopping centre. He told me that I’ve taken a wrong road and there are consequences. It was important now to take precautionary measures regarding my daughter.
"I understood what he meant by taking the wrong road. I had doubts when I was offered my current job. Just the way it was offered to me—in that they did not delve too deeply into my qualifications etc. And I know I’m not being modest about my talents. It was almost as if there was another reason why they employed me. I can’t explain that.
"I see the consequences now and I’m trying to right the situation. I understand there are some powerful forces at play here and so I ask, Pops, if anything happens could you please look after Isabella?"
The Professor was silent and stared at the paper in his hands. He closed his eyes for a brief moment and then folded up the note and put it back in his pocket.
“So you see, Lucas, my daughter’s telling me I’d better look after her daughter, Isabella. But I’ve passed that on to you because you’re more able.” He raised his eyebrows as he looked at Lucas and nodded. “Now, I said to myself, why did I pick Lucas? Did God prompt me? Maybe it is time that I gave God more than a fleeting thought. I’m starting to get concerned about things. I’m starting to forget things. I’m sorry, Lucas, but you were the only person I could think of who could help.”
He was sitting too close to the fire so Lucas stood up and walked over to a window. Freedom. He was free, but for how long? “Thanks for passing this responsibility on to me, Starkey. But I’m not sure how I’m going to do this from prison.”
“Neither do I, Lucas. But God does. And maybe that’s where faith starts.” The Professor hunched his shoulders and opened his arms, as if he wasn’t totally convinced by what he was saying. The Professor then leaned forward. “I believe my daughter’s been murdered, and we need to bring those who have done this to justice.”
12 – Isabella Rose and the Messenger
IT WAS DRIZZLY AND OVERCAST IN MELBOURNE. Isabella Rose sat in the Southern Cross Station waiting for the bus to pull into Bay 54. She felt a dark cloud sitting over her and wanted so much to remove it. She hoped the cloud stayed in Melbourne.
She was dressed in comfortable black jeans with a mauve crew neck jumper covering a white turtleneck shirt. Black RM Williams boots kept her feet warm and dry. A brown winter coat sat on top of her large overnight bag, which rested on the seat next to her backpack. The trip to Healesville took just over an hour and a half, and it was a cold place at this time of the year.
