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CHAPTER 81
Kaugnay na kabanata
Marked CHAPTER 82
As Caleb and I stood by the railing, looking out at the ocean, the ferry to Martha’s Vineyard blew its horn and began to depart. I looked down and saw the moving water, and was excited. I loved boats. I felt happy, and free. As I watched the waves rising beneath me, I realized that right now I’d probably be sitting in some stupid class, listening to a teacher drone on. I felt like an adult. Independent. The whole world was mine.I looked over at Caleb, expecting to see him also happy, and was surprised to see him looking so nervous. I had never seen him like this.He looked more pale than usual. I wondered if he didn’t like boats, or if maybe he didn’t know how to swim.I reached over and lay a reassuring hand on his. “You okay?”He nodded, and swallowed. He clutched the railing, and looked down at the water as if it were his enemy.“What is it?” I asked.He swallowed.“Water,” he said simply. He gripped the railing harder. “Our kind does not like water. Especially crossing it.
Marked CHAPTER 83
Sam sat in the passenger seat of the BMW as they raced down the interstate. He couldn’t believe it. It all felt like a dream. Here he was, in the passenger seat of a new BMW, racing down the highway, leaning back, with a hot girl by his side. And it was her car, and she was driving—stick. She was hot to begin with, but this made her really hot. He felt like he was in some kind of James Bond movie. Things like this just didn’t happen to him. Girls never even talked to him, and the few times he’d tried to pick them up, it hadn’t gone so well.And things just kept getting better. Not only did she have an awesome house, and a hot pair of wheels, but she, like him, just wanted to take off and go. They both had their windows down, and it was turning out to be a warm March day. Coldplay came on the radio, and Sam reached over and turned it up. He wondered if she’d turn it back down, or change the station. Instead, she reached over and turned it louder. He couldn’t believe it.Sam looked out
Marked CHAPTER 84
Caleb put his around me as the ferry let them off at the dock in Edgartown, a small village in the southeast corner of Martha’s Vineyard. As we walked down the ramp, I noticed that both Caleb and Rose seemed relieved to be on dry land. Rose peeked her head out, and kept it out, sniffing the air, and taking in the view with great curiosity.I held the flyer up once again and stared. I couldn’t believe our luck. It was an advertisement to explore “Historic Martha’s Vineyard,” and there, towards the end of the list of sites, it read: “The Vincent House. Built 1672.”After seeing it, we had decided to change plans, and to go to the Vincent House first, before the Aquinnah Cliffs. After all, that’s what was engraved on the key, and that was a more concrete lead than the cliffs. Maybe we wouldn’t even need to see the cliffs now. At least now we had a specific place to go. And of course, I still held the key in my pocket, holding it close. I slipped one hand into my pocket, feeling the worn
Marked CHAPTER 85
I set Rose down and allowed her to walk beside us. I was happy to see that she was well behaved, keeping pace with us and not wandering off. She ran to a small patch of grass to relieve herself, but then ran right back. I reached down and gave her another small piece of the hotdog, and she ate it happily.We passed a large, historic church, walked alongside a small, white picket fence, and then turned and entered a walkway that led through immaculately kept grounds. The grass was green and vibrant, even this time of year. To one side of us was a magnificent old whaling Church, and to the other was an enormous whaling house from the mid-19th century, with a large veranda in the back. The sign read: “The Daniel Fisher House.” It was the most beautiful house I’d ever seen. I could happily picture myself living there. Strolling through its backyard, with Caleb holding my hand and Rose by my side, it almost felt like we were home.We continued down the walkway another hundred yards or so,
Marked CHAPTER 86
The front door to the house opened, and a large, black man, 50s, stood in the doorway. He took several steps in.He stopped before Caleb and stared.Caleb stared back.“Caleb?” the man finally asked.Caleb’s expression softened.“Roger?” Caleb asked.The man broke into a smile, as did Caleb, and they both embraced in a huge hug. They held it for several seconds.Who is this? I thought.Roger began to laugh—a deep, warm, generous laugh. He held Caleb by the shoulders and looked at him. Caleb was a big man, but even so, Roger towered over him.“Son of a bitch,” Roger said. “I haven’t seen you in what…a hundred and fifty years?”“More like 200,” Caleb said.They both stared at each other, surprised. Whoever he was, this had clearly been an important man in Caleb’s life.Caleb turned, and held his hand out to me. “Excuse my manners,” he said. “Roger, may I introduce Caitlin Paine.”Roger did a half bow. “A pleasure to meet you, Caitlin.”I smiled back. “A pleasure to meet you
Marked CHAPTER 87
{SAMANTHA’S POV}Samantha, in the passenger seat, looked over and was impressed by how Sam handled the car. Not bad for someone his age. She was surprised by how well he handled the stick, and she forgave him his initial grinding of gears. He was actually pretty good once he got past third. She liked his aggression, especially when the speedometer hit 120. He had spirit, she had to give him that.She leaned back, relaxing and enjoying the ride. It was a lot slower than flying, but not bad for human travel. She thought of the man who’d owned this car, that real estate broker—her morning meal—and smiled. His blood still ran through her veins, and it felt good. She was sated.She didn’t need to let the kid drive, but she figured his days were numbered anyway, so why not let him enjoy them, go out with a bang? It would only be a matter of hours now until she’d meet his father, and find out where that sword was. After that, she could dispose of them both.But something gnawed at her.
Marked CHAPTER 88
Caleb and I looked at each other in wonder as Roger led us back onto the brick walkway, through the manicured grounds, and past the Daniel Fisher House. We exited back on the street, made a quick turn, and then, before we knew it, he was leading us up the front steps and into the huge, historic whaling church.The door was locked, but Roger had the key. He unlocked it, and held it open for us.“We didn’t move it far,” he said, with a smile and a wink.They entered, and he closed and locked the door behind them.I was taken aback as we entered the church. It was breathtaking. So light and airy, so beautiful in its simplicity, it was unlike any church I had ever been in. There were no crosses, no religious figures, no ornamentation, not even any columns or beams—it was just a huge open room, lined in every direction with old windows. There were rows and rows of simple, wooden pews, enough to hold hundreds of people. It was a very peaceful place. “This is the largest open-ceilinged
Marked CHAPTER 89
The notes echoed throughout the huge, empty church, reverberating off the walls, filling the empty space. It seemed to bounce off of everything.I had never heard music like this. Nothing even remotely like this. It made me want to capture the moment. And it made me want to cry.At that moment, I felt profoundly sad, as it struck me, again, that there was so much about Caleb that I would probably never know. I would just have to accept that I knew as much as I did, and learn to be happy to be with him for the short time that I was.It also saddened me, as it made me think of Jonah. I hadn’t thought of him in so long. When I was with Caleb, I felt no need to think of him. But he was still there, somewhere deep in my consciousness, even from just the short time we’d spent together, and a part of me still felt badly for ending it so abruptly. Whatever we’d had together, it felt unresolved. A part of me felt that someday we would see each other again. I didn’t know how, but I just knew
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