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Beatrice Beecham's Ship of Shadows Chapter Thirteen
CHAPTER THIRTEEN“You really didn’thave to do this, Mrs Beecham,” Claire said on the doorstep. She was clutching a rather large bouquet of flowers that Thomas had thrust at her as soon as the front door opened.“It’s the least we could do for being so generous,” Maureen said. “Though, perhaps you could’ve waited until Claire had stepped in through the door, Thomas.”Beatrice stood looking at Claire from the kitchen. There was no doubt in her mind that the TV presenter was beautiful. She wore a wine red, fitted dress that stopped just above her knees and a cream shawl covered her shoulders which matched the colour of her high-heeled shoes. Around her pale, slim neck was a delicate gold necklace that ended in a teardrop pendant.Claire’s eyes found Beatrice and she gave out a warm smile. “You must be Tom’s sister,” she said. “He’s told me a lot about you.”Beatrice returned the smile. “Well, I guess you’ll have to make up your own mind,” she said, hoping it didn’t come across
Beatrice Beecham's Ship of Shadows Chapter Fourteen
CHAPTER FOURTEENThe ballroom wasa place of glass mirrors and tall, elegant pillars etched in gold leaf, interspersed with rich redwood and parquet flooring that was so highly polished it appeared slickened with grease. From chandeliers fashioned into images of glass gulls, light poured down upon the guests below. The whole room glittered like a magical prize.The gala was in full swing. There was over thirty celebrity guests, most of which Beatrice did not recognise. She only knew they held some prestige when either Claire or Thomas pointed them out.Despite her earlier reservations, Beatrice found Claire quite personable, she was always making jokes, and found the attention she gained from other celebrities amusing.“They’re looking into my eyes but can only see themselves,” she laughed after an encounter with a muscle-bound man with a high, bronzed forehead, and heavy Geordie accent. The guy had spent several seconds asking her about her latest show, and several minutes ta
Beatrice Beecham's Ship of Shadows Chapter Fifteen
CHAPTER FIFTEENIn Lucas’ bedroom, Emily was sitting in a big armchair, finishing off her fourth jumbo cookie, eyes transfixed on the nautical map on the screen of her laptop. She chewed thoughtfully as a ship-shaped cursor—indicating The Spirit of the Ocean—blinked lazily on the coastline.Across the room, Elmo and Lucas were sitting on the bed eating pistachio nuts from a bag. The shells were in a bowl, a myriad of tiny, gaping mouths that evidenced just how many had been gorged in the time Beatrice had been on the boat.The two boys were facing Emily so she could lip read them, and also signed when relaying any important information Elmo found on the ship or its owners.So far, Elmo had found out the background of Redfern’s company and a biography of the current owner. One of the things that had caught Elmo’s attention was the mention of the owner’s penchant for maritime antiquities, and his inclination to display these in most of the vessels that his company built.“Got an ide
Beatrice Beecham's Ship of Shadows Chapter Sixteen
CHAPTER SIXTEENBefore the worldchanged, Lucas was thinking about Beatrice, his face screwed up with concern when Elmo presented his theory about Elizabeth and her quest for some relic on the yacht.Lucas had been battling against waves of love and fear, admiration and tension, when he heard the lone, rolling toll of a bell. At the same time, he felt the sudden pulse in the back pocket of his cargo pants. Puzzled he scanned around for his phone, the vibration in his pocket continuing without apparent end.It didn’t help when he immediately noticed that his phone was where he left it, innocuous and silent on his bedside table. He shuffled forward and snuck his hand into his back pocket, almost letting go of the object as it thrummed against his fingers. Yet this rejection was fleeting, with the contact came a connection and all thoughts of what was going on around him seemed irrelevant as he pulled the token free of his pocket and looked down upon it.The button was glimmering
Beatrice Beecham's Ship of Shadows Chapter Seventeen
CHAPTER SEVENTEENBeatrice’s eyes neverleft the creatures lurking in the shadows. She took meagre comfort from the contact of Claire’s back against hers, both braced and ready for any pending attack. But the nagging thought that Lucas was lost to her mind’s eye was difficult to push aside.Until the thump, thump, thump of something rolling across the deck brought her back to the here and now.“That’s weird,” Claire said behind her.Beatrice couldn’t think of anything that could top the creatures in the ballroom, but she went with Claire’s assessment.“What was it?”“A girl appeared out of nowhere and landed on the deck,” Claire said.Beatrice thought this met the standard. “Yeah, okay, that’s pretty weird.”She risked taking a peek over Claire’s shoulder. The malformed figure prowled the deck, green eyes glaring, and then to Beatrice’s surprise, Emily jumped up and stood up to face the creature as it lunged.Beatrice moved fast, circumventing Claire, and reached out to g
Beatrice Beecham's Ship of Shadows Chapter Eighteen
CHAPTER EIGHTEENThe oak tree was huge and from where Lucas stood, its shape reminded him of a piece of broccoli. The great trunk was thick and gnarled, the leaves spreading like a vast canopy of deep jade. This magnificent symbol of nature sat alone in a green field, an azure, cloudless sky as a backdrop. Lucas ambled up the hill. There was no such thing as urgency in a place such as this. His heart maintained the sense of peace he had carried since ...When?He wasn’t sure, and when he thought about it he realised the matter was not important. He stalled and looked back down the hill, his journey marked by the path he’d trampled into the deep, emerald grass.At the bottom of the hill, the fields went on for as far as the eye could see, a writhing mass, making it difficult to focus. For some reason the image of a house with a patched roof and a small boy sitting on a wall came to mind but it drifted away before he could grasp at it.He shook his head, a smile spreadin
Beatrice Beecham's Ship of Shadows Chapter Nineteen
CHAPTER NINETEENFor the first time in what seemed like forever, Beatrice felt genuinely terrified. Not scared, or afraid, not anxious or the many other nouns that she’d heard people describe how they felt when confronted with their worst fears. This was bone-chilling, brain-seizing fear, the kind that robbed rational thought, the kind that turned each chamber of her heart to ice water.The land was gone. The sea was gone. Overhead the nebulous clouds and the stars in between were gone. All around the boat was an endless nothingness, so complete that it appeared both small and vast at the same time.This was The Darkness. She knew this with a certainty that almost had her legs collapsing beneath her. Her arms were heavy, hanging at her sides like they were as useless as her situation.“Well, I said I wanted to be in space but this isn’t quite what I had in mind,” Claire breathed beside her. “And here I thought this couldn’t get any worse.”Beatrice tried to speak but nothing came
Beatrice Beecham's Ship of Shadows Chapter Twenty
CHAPTER TWENTYFalling, the sensationin her stomach was akin to going over the world’s largest speed bump. Beatrice had no concept of time or place, no affiliation with the laws of normality. There was just the sensation of a hundred butterflies in her belly.No sooner had she cleared the boat when the terrible rage that had consumed her vanished. The distance between her and Emily acted as a fire blanket, smothering the flames and leaving behind serenity, and the sensation of flight. She did not question it; she merely welcomed the innate, pervading peace.As she fell, she began to see a change in the fabric of darkness, as though a distant light was somehow eating into the blackness. She made out shapes below her, structures that seemed both familiar and alien in the same instant. They also appeared to have symmetry, either lined or blocked. As these shapes came into view she found herself looking down on an ancient town, the buildings in ruins, the streets nothing but strip
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