Why Not Murder

66. Found

66. Found

Cathy explained, "I knew Mum was being watched. Whenever I left the house in Marhaven for something or other, I had the feeling I was being watched too. The car near the house wouldn't pull out and follow like it would after Mum, but after a few minutes, when I was out I had the feeling of being stalked. When I asked Mum why, she said it was because of the legal work she was doing. I didn't have any proof that I was being stalked and I didn't want to worry Mum any more than she already was, so I kept quiet about it. I even had that feeling when I was taking Bobby and Ray to their school. Since I turned sixteen, I've been learning on my own at home. Mum approved. I couldn't understand why me and apparently Bobby and Ray were being followed because of Mum's legal work. It spelled something sinister to me. It got worse after Mum was taken into custody. Several times I was sure that the house had been broken into when me and my brothers were out. Nothing was taken as far as I know but some things were moved."

Cathy continued, "When Mum told me that we were going to move, I liked the idea and I hoped we wouldn't be followed. Sometimes I thought I caught a glimpse of the person following me. It was a man and he frightened me. I didn't try to lose him because then he would know that I knew so I ignored the whole thing. But when I saw that man on the train when my brothers and I were coming to Brockton, I wanted to do something. My brothers seemed unaware of it. When we had to switch trains, I pretended to get confused and got on another train that didn't go to Brockton, but was heading in the opposite direction. When I knew we were still being followed and that plan didn't work, at the next station, I got us on the train back and we came to Brockton. Amanda was going to meet us, but because we were so very late, I was hoping she wouldn't be at the station, but she was, sleeping on a bench with her bag as a pillow. I knew it was her right away because of the long gray hair and moccasins. She had bus passes for us and we came to her cabin. She's 103 years old she said, but she's fitter than most others. She breathes at a slower rate than 'normal' she explained and let us feel her heart beat which was slower than any of ours."

Cathy continued, "At her cabin, I felt we were still being watched. I went outside to walk around the cabin and was sure I saw a man in the bushes. I was frightened. I told Amanda about it. She took me totally seriously and thought for some time and then told me that she had a plan to get away because being stalked could only mean something bad. She also said that she had the feeling herself that she was being watched for a few days even before we arrived."

Cathy continued, "Over the years, starting many years earlier, she had built a secret passage from her cellar under the cabin, out to a place in the forest where the exit was hidden in the ground. We made a decoy to resemble her which we dressed in her clothes and put in the chair in front of the fire, all the while, keeping below the bottom edge of the windows so as not to be seen. In the middle of the night, the four of us crept along the underground passage and after a long time came out into the forest far away from the cabin. We stayed very quiet and silently kept on our way."

Cathy continued, "We hadn't gone very far when suddenly a candle shone in the darkness under the trees. A man was holding it and the shadow behind him seemed huge. His face was in the light. He had two blue feathers in his hair. My heart sunk. 'Don't be scared,' he said, 'My name is Spark. You are not being followed now, but you were being watched at the cabin. I am here to help you and keep you safe.' And so it was and we came to the outskirts of the ancestral village. Spark checked the place out while we waited in a place where we would not be found. When he came back, he said it would not be safe for us there, but that he knew a place, which was dangerous in itself but where we would be safe, and that was here at Crawford Mills."

Spark spoke, "I was keeping eye on Amanda for some time before this. I have been to this weird village a number of times and found Rayelle one day in the library. She said that her psychic sister was in danger but was not aware of it. She told me where she lived and asked that I go there and ascertain the situation. I found the cabin in Brockton and approached secretly. I came upon a man hiding in the bush watching the cabin with binoculars. I kept myself unknown to him and watched. Later he was relieved by another man and then that man was relieved by a woman. One or the other of them kept constant watch. Amanda rarely left the property. One day she did and she was followed to wherever it was she was headed, apparently unaware of her follower. Hours later she returned with Cathy, Bobby and Ray. Surveillance continued. One morning I heard very quiet walking in the forest as I was creeping around keeping watch on the situation. I thought I heard a child's voice which alerted me because it was far from the cabin. I saw the four of them making their way very quietly through the trees. I watched for a long time to see if they were being followed and when I was positive they weren't, I let my presence be known to them."