Blood of Cain

7

Lois Timber's cell rang in her purse. She reached for it and answered. After a few seconds, she said to the caller, “I'm sorry I'm running late. I had to give a friend a ride to town. Yes, I'll be at the school in a few minutes. Please see if Carol can watch my class until them.” She looked at Courtney. “Whatever's happened to you, you need to go to the authorities and tell them. Don't run.”

Courtney nodded and blew out a breath. “You wanted me to call my grandmother. Do you have a phone I can use for a second?”

“Absolutely. This is worth me being tardy to my own class.” She lifted a cell phone from her purse.

Courtney took it, opened the car door, and said, “I won't take long. Just need to make the call in private.”

“I understand.”

She stepped out of the car and into the shade of a large pine tree next to the sidewalk. She punched numbers and waited. The morning turned warm, a mockingbird called out from the tree, the smell of fresh-cut grass in the air. The voice of an older woman said, “Hello.”

“Grandma …”

“Courtney, I've been so worried about you. Where are you?”

“Something bad has happened.”

“What honey? What happened?” The woman coughed.

“A man's been killed. He was stabbed to death. It was horrible. I tried to help him, tried to stop the bleeding. But I couldn't. I didn't know what to do, so I just ran. I had to get out of there.”

“Courtney, where are you?”

“Florida. I think the town's called DeLand. I was trying to find the Celtic torc he stole from you. I heard he was workin' the carnival circuit. I was getting closer. Then all this happened.”

“I told you to stay away from him. He's more evil than you can understand.” She coughed into the phone. “Courtney, listen to me. You have to go to the police. Tell them what happened. Then you come on back home. You understand?”

“I can't go back there. You know why.” Courtney saw a police cruiser slowly coming down the street in her direction. She turned her back to the cruiser. “Grandma, I gotta go.”

“Courtney! Courtney, come home.”

“I love you. I’ll call you.”

“I love you too, sweetheart.”

Courtney disconnected, opened the car door, leaned in and said, “Thank you for the ride. I really appreciate you stopping.” She cut her eyes to the right and watched the police cruiser continue down the street, slowing in front of a Dairy Queen restaurant and turning around in the parking lot.

Lois said, “I hope you're gonna be okay. The women in the clinic will help you.”

Courtney nodded. “I appreciate what you did, stopping for me. Bye.” She closed the car door, turned her back toward the cruiser and walked to the front entrance. From the reflection on the dark glass doors, she could see the police car pulling up to the curb.

Courtney entered the clinic. A receptionist looked up from the magazine she was reading behind the desk. “May I help you?”

“Yes, I'm here to see Carla.”

“Do you have an appointment?”

“No, Lois Timbers sent me.”

“Please, have a seat. I'll see if Mrs. Flowers is available.”

Courtney looked through the front glass. Two officers were getting out of the car, one speaking into a radio microphone clipped to his sleeve. “Where’s the ladies’ room?”

The receptionist pointed to her left. “Through that door. It'll be on your right.”

Courtney smiled. She walked in the direction she was given, but turned down a hallway that led the opposite way from the front door. She stepped quickly over the polished tile floor, ignoring a nurse who asked if she could help her. Courtney found the rear exit and bolted out the door. She ran down a long alleyway. A frightened a black cat jumped from a garbage can, the aluminum lid falling to the concrete. The sound of Courtney's hard soles echoed off the old walls between the buildings and the rattle of dripping air conditioners. Drops of warm water hit her in the face. She ran harder, turning the corner at the end of the alley.

A city bus was pulling away from a stop at the corner. Courtney banged on the bus door. The startled driver opened the door and Courtney paid the fare, taking a seat in the back. She noticed many of the passengers were about her age, college students. She rode for more than ten minutes, and when the students began getting off the bus, she followed suit. She found herself on the campus of Stetson University.

The campus was set in acres of well-manicured grass. Caladiums and oleanders were planted behind rows of border grass. Squirrels hopped between stately old oaks, the blooming jonquils and azaleas like perfume to Courtney. The red brick buildings were majestic, reminding her of Old South plantation mansions she'd seen in part of South Carolina. She watched students walk by talking and laughing about some event they shared together earlier. Some rode skateboards, iPods in ears, backpacks slung over their shoulders. Two male students tossed a Frisbee.

Courtney sat on a park bench beneath an oak tree and watched them for a minute. She could hear church bells in the distance. The smell of grilling barbeque chicken was in the breeze. Suddenly she felt a deep sense of sorrow, as if she was an absolute stranger in a strange world and was just passing through, never belonging, never achieving. Never becoming, only witnessing from afar. And she felt so alone.

An acorn fell from the oak, bouncing off the wooden bench to within inches of her shoe. She watched a squirrel coming closer to her, the squirrel's eyes on the prize. Courtney leaned over to pick up the acorn. It was hidden in a patch of grass that had somehow missed the mower's blades. Next to the acorn grew a tall, perfect clover in the speckled sunlight through the branches. She picked the clover and held it in front of her, rotating the four leaves in her hand.

Maybe this is a good sign. She touched each of the leaves and remembered a conversation she’d had with her grandmother about the Irish shamrock. Courtney would continue. She had no choice. She smiled, reached for the acorn and said, “Come here little fella.” She gently tossed it to the squirrel, the animal scampering like an outfielder chasing a groundball. The squirrel sat back on its haunches, looking directly at her and gnawed the heart out of the nut, its cheeks puffing out.

Courtney Burke smiled, glanced down at the four-leaf clover in her hand, and she no longer felt so alone.