Why Not Murder

55. Louis

55. Louis

Rayelle continued, "There's only one copy of my grandmother's book that I know of. None of it is online and I don't plan on getting it there. For me, it's sacred and I don't want strangers or anyone not of my choosing to read it. What's read gets judged and my grandmother deserves no more judgment of others. I am copying portions of it out and referencing them in the book that I am writing in longhand. I don't type and prefer the life of old, without machines." Rayelle pushed a slim book across the table towards Maya, "Here," Rayelle said, "Read the first chapter and if you like it, you can have this copy I am making of it, provided you never allow it to be published in any way. You can read it, preferably in this library, and return it to me when you have finished. I presume you have not come here to stay."

"Thank you so much for the honour," Maya said, "What have I done to have your trust?"

"You don't recognize me yet," Rayelle said, "The world is a mysterious place none can fathom. We've met twice already, whether that was in the past or a future past, I cannot say for sure. That's all I will say on that for now. Read. We don't ever know how much time there is for us in the whirling mass of countless time tunnels spreading outward like so many tentacles of the infinitely large octopus tree we are part of."

Maya was looking intently at Rayelle but still could not remember her from a time before. She opened the handmade book and started reading the first chapter.

"I was four when Louis came into my life for the first time. He was the first person I had ever seen who was not my mother or father. We lived in a faraway place where no one ever came. My parents were busy with chores and I was on my own, as usual. I liked to wander in the forest near our home. I was a troublesome bother for my parents. They resented me because I was an extra mouth to feed and they never cared what I did or where I went. Although I never spoke to them and so they considered me mute, they never realized how well I understood what they were saying and thinking. I could speak though I just didn't speak to them. I was walking in a direction I had not taken before, laughing at the wind blowing up the dry leaves and pine needles that had fallen. The sounds of the forest were voices speaking to me. I was looking at the tops of the trees at the large black birds silently watching me. I took another step and my left foot felt nothing underneath it. Just as I was losing my balance, a strong hand grasped my arm and lifted me up in his arms. It was Louis, as a big boy, and he said 'You shouldn't be right here'. He had a large stone in his hand. I watched as he dropped the stone where I was stepping. It fell down, down, down a dark hole. After a time there was the sound of a splash as the stone hit water. 'It's an abandoned well' he said ' and should be covered'. He put me down and rolled a rock over the top of the well that he pushed down a ways so that it wouldn't move. 'Always watch and know where you are stepping,' he said, 'there are many more abandoned wells and other dangers on the ground such as snakes. A person of the wilderness needs to be like eyes that see in every direction.' He walked and played with me until dusk when it was time for my dinner. From that time, I have always loved him. He promised he would come back.

"Louis came to me often when I was alone. He would come to me at different ages. Next time I saw him, he was a little younger than me. I was in the forest as usual and was careful about where I stepped as he had told me. Suddenly I felt a hand smaller than mine in my own. A little boy with a mass of messy brown hair was beside me, smiling, showing his baby teeth brightly contrasting with his dusty face. He was speaking but I couldn't understand what he was saying. He didn't understand me when I spoke to him either so we started to tell each other the words we used for things. Years later I found out he was speaking French and I was speaking English. But in this sharing of words, we realized that we didn't have to say the words out loud. We could understand each other's thoughts. We inspected the area of the forest we found ourselves in and finding no danger, played tag 'til dusk. He said he had to go home and would come back to me again. I watched him walk deep into the forest and I returned home for my daily meal. My parents were silent and I could feel the anger between them.