Chelsea awoke to the phone ringing in the hotel room. Tommy answered it immediately and Chelsea looked over to the second bed and saw it completely untouched. He hadn't slept.
"You need to sleep." Chelsea groaned.
"Yes, I'll accept the call." Tommy said, pressing the phone against his ear, looking over at Chelsea as she got up and walked over to pour herself a jug of water, "Hello, Lizzie."
Chelsea walked over and sat opposite her dad, seeing the paperwork and his glasses rested on top, if this man didn't sleep Chelsea would be sure he'd become a zombie.
"Thats all right, Lizzie, don't worry, you just there for now and get her better." Tommy said.
Chelsea looked up and furrowed her brows, "Who?"
"Ruby." Tommy replied, "Lizzie, can I speak to her. . .okay, let her sleep. Me and Chelsea have a bit more business to do here. Look, you just book a new passage when Ruby's feeling better. Doesn't matter if you don't get here for Christmas, just as long as you get here. Have you told Isaiah and the kids? Okay. We'll get this business done, you get here with the children, Isaiah and my grandkids and then no more. And then it'll just be us and the clean air out in the West."
Chelsea knew that Lizzie was smiling over the phone, every time Tommy seemed remotely relaxed she loved it because ever since Polly died, Tommy had been a completely different man.
"How long has she been coughing?" Tommy asked, "It's just cold. I'll get this business done in Boston then it'll be the end of it. Then I just want to. . .I just want to pick Ruby up and hold her in my arms, you know?"
Now it was Chelsea's turn to smile, all she wanted was for her sister to know the man that Chelsea knew, and Tommy made sure that it was happening.
"Teaching her to rob and steal, more like." Tommy chuckled.
Suddenly, Tommy's face dropped and he stood up, "Lizzie-what-what did you say? What did Ruby say? . . .Did she say any other words that you didn't understand?. . no, Lizzie, did she say any other words in Romany? Fucking listen to me! Just 'Tickner Maura' and 'O Beng'?"
Chelsea jumped up and shook her head. She didn't speak fluent Romani, but she knew what this meant. 'Tickner' meant child, 'Maura' meant kill and 'O Beng' meant the devil.
"What the fuck did you just say?" Chelsea whispered, snatching the phone from her father's hand and pressing it to her own ear, "Lizzie, did she see anything when she was burning up? Lizzie! Please just answer the fucking question!"
"She said could see a man." Lizzie sighed, "A man with green eyes. But she was delirious, she was burning up. What the fuck is the matter?"
"Dad, we have to go home."
Tommy nodded and took the phone, he saw the fear in Chelsea's eyes and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, she hid her face in his chest and tried to calm herself down, "All right, listen, Lizzie, me and Chelsea are coming home. . . .we're coming home on the next steamer back. You keep her out of school, and you keep her away from-keep her away from the river! Don't let her ride a horse or go near a horse. Tell Johnny Dogs and his wives the words that Ruby has been saying. Tell Johnny's eldest wife to put a Black Madonna around her neck. You listen to Esmeralda the same way you listen to a doctor. You hear me-Yes, it is Gypsy fucking stuff, Lizzie! Yes, it fucking is! And you get Curly there! Tell him to stay in the stable with Ruby's horses. And you do everything that Johnny Dogs and his wives fucking tell you."
Chelsea covered her face with her hands and Tommy tightened his grip on her, "I'm sorry, Lizzie, do you understand? All right, we're coming home."
Tommy walked forward and placed the phone on the table.
