Dreamseeker by C.S. Friedman Read Free Book Online Page A

all things considered. Devon must have told him
something
. But was he here to support his son, or to confront the bad influences that were misleading him? Then Devon disembarked from the passenger side. I wanted to run to him, to throw my arms around him and hug him until his ribs hurt . . . but with his father there, such a display was out of the question. So I just stood at the head of the stairs, waving and smiling, my heart pounding, waiting for him to come to me at his own pace.
    Then Rita got out, and when I saw the condition she was in my stomach tightened and the joy I’d felt a moment before vanished in an instant. She moved with the stiffness of someone injured, her face was cut in several places, and there was an angry purple bruise covering most of one cheek. Tommy and I had looked pretty bad when we first came home, but a week’s time had muted our bruises to dull gold and our bodily aches to memory; her damage looked much more recent, and the bright purple hue of her wounds made my own fading bruises throb in sympathy. She was wearing long sleeves, I noted, and given how hot the day was, that suggested there were marks on her arms as well. I wondered if Dr. Tilford had seen them.
    â€œWell, hello!” Aunt Rose’s sudden voice exploding behind my shoulder made me jump. “You must be Jesse’s friends!”
    The greeting was so mundane under the circumstances that it seemed almost surreal, but Dr. Tilford just took it in stride, smiling and coming up the stairs to shake her hand as if this was a normal, everyday visit. And then my uncle came out and was introduced, and Rose asked Dr. Tilford how his trip was, and he said that it had been lovely, thank you, this part of the country was lovely, and by the way, so was her house. She beamed. The banal irrelevance of their chatter made my head spin, but there wasn’t much I could do about it. I knew my aunt well enough by now to recognize that she wasn’t going to leave us alone to talk about anything substantial until basic social amenities had been taken care of.
    She had lunch ready and waiting for the newcomers, of course. Mom joined us there, and she offered her hand to Dr. Tilford as he entered, as if greeting a stranger. “So nice to meet you. I’m Jesse and Tommy’s mom.” I felt my heart sink, and I could see a shadow of concern in Dr. Tilford’s eyes, but he responded graciously and shook her hand like nothing was wrong. They’d met before, of course. He was the one who had brought us back to Manassas after we’d escaped from the Shadows’ prison, and driven Tommy and me home to meet my mother. So this moment was a painful reminder of how much memory she had lost.
    Rose began to chatter as she set out chicken salad sandwiches and lemonade, filling what could otherwise have been an uncomfortable silence. The Fourth of July celebrations were this weekend, with a big cookout during the day and fireworks at night, so it was a pity our visitors wouldn’t be here for that. Of course if they wanted to stay for it, they were welcome to, though someone might have to sleep on a couch. And the local gallery was open on the weekend, so if they wanted to stay that long, she could show them her work there. Speaking of which, she was really hoping that I would display something at her booth. Maybe the newcomers would help talk me into it?
    I caught Julian looking at Rita, and sometimes Rose’s eyes fixed on her a bit longer than they should have; clearly they were wondering about her bruises. But no one asked any questions about them, at least during lunch.
    One small thing to be grateful for.
    Not until all the food was eaten, and the social chit-chat had gone on for so long I was ready to scream, were we finally able to get away from the adults. Devon, Rita, Tommy and I headed up to Tommy’s room in the attic to talk. It was a narrow room that ran the length of the house, and we figured