November 3, 1999

Rollie hid an amused smile as Angie hurriedly came around the car and offered him her arm to lean on as he got out of the passenger seat.  She had been mothering him nonstop since he was released from the hospital, barely allowing him to do anything on his own.  Rollie appreciated her help since he still felt a little weak and shaky, but she was going more than a tad overboard.

Though he had wanted to leave the hospital yesterday, Angie had been in complete agreement with the doctors to keep him another day for observation.  Well, he was out now and couldn’t wait to get back home to New York.  But there were things to do first.  They were doing one of those things now.

Angie rang the Parkers’ doorbell.  It was answered by Cecilia.

“Rollie!  How wonderful to see you out of that hospital,” she exclaimed, “though I must say you look terribly pale.  Are you sure you should be on your feet so soon?”

“I’m fine, Cecilia, just a little shaky,” the Aussie assured her.

“Well, then come in and sit down.”  She led them to the living room and fussed over Rollie like a grandmother, fetching him a pillow for his back and something to drink, totally ignoring his protests that it wasn’t necessary.

“You’re wasting your breath, Rollie,” Fred told him with a chuckle.  “When Cissy wants to fuss over someone, there’s nothing on Earth that will dissuade her.”

“Well, he’s been through a lot, poor man,” his wife pointed out.  “Besides, something tells me that he hasn’t been fussed over very much in his life.”

Rollie smiled at the elderly woman, thinking that it would have been nice to have a grandmother to fuss over him every now and then as he grew up.  The only grandparent he’d known died when he was quite young.

“So, to what do we owe the pleasure of your visit, Rollie?” Fred asked.  “Are you here about that other house?  I talked to Jerome Dickens, and he said that any time you want to see the place is fine with him.”

“Thanks, Fred, but that’s not why we’re here.”  Rollie glanced at Angie.  “I wanted to tell you that I, um, know about Nicholas Powell, that he’s still alive.”

Fred’s jaw dropped open.  “How’d you find out?”

“Let’s just say that I found out from a friend.  Why have you been saying that he’s dead?”

Fred settled in a chair.  “That was my father’s doing.  Poor Nicholas was in terrible shape when he was found.  The doctors didn’t know how he could have survived, especially with all the blood he lost.  They took him to a big hospital that was equipped for the kind of care he needed.  Everybody here was positive that he was going to die.  My father didn’t know where it started, but, somehow, the rumor got around that Nicholas did die.  He chose not to refute this since, at that time, he wasn’t sure if the boy was going to survive.

“When Nicholas woke up, he wasn’t quite right in the head, which is no wonder considering what he’d gone through.  Dad didn’t want the boy to come back here to all the pitying stares and whispered comments, so, instead, he allowed the belief that Nicholas was dead to continue.  He even arranged for a ‘body’ to be buried with the rest of the Powells in the cemetery.  I can’t say what he did was legal, but it was the kind thing to do.  Dad had Nicholas put in a facility for children with mental problems.  Not one of those horrible places that were around back then.  This was a nice one.  He used Hannah Powell’s life insurance money to pay for it.”

“She had life insurance?  That’s unusual for back then,” Angie commented.

“Yes, it was.  Robert was a rather forward-thinking man and got life insurance for both himself and Hannah, deciding that, if something happened to both of them, the children would be well-provided for.  Of course, his life insurance wasn’t paid out since he committed suicide.”

“How did your father end up with the insurance money?” Rollie asked.

“Hannah’s will stated that, if there were no living relatives to give the money to, my father was to donate it to a worthy cause.  By paying for Nicholas’s care in that facility, he was both giving the money to a relative and donating it to a worthy cause.”

Angie nodded, thinking that it was a very kind thing Fred’s father had done.  “Is Nicholas still living in an institution?”

“No.  It took several years, but he finally reached the point where he was declared well enough to be discharged from the facility, though he still had to go back from time to time for check ups, or whatever they call them.  After he got out, he didn’t want anything to do with this place and asked my father to let the belief that he was dead remain.  At that point, he was fifteen years old.  A family took him in, and he stayed with them until he turned legal age to be on his own.  Since he’d missed a great deal of his schooling, he had to do a lot of catching up, but he did manage to get a good enough education to find a decent job.”

Rollie was both saddened and heartened by the tale.  It was sad that Nicholas was so badly scarred by what happened, but it was good to hear that he apparently made a life for himself.  “Where is he now?” he asked.

“He’s in a nursing home in St. Louis, been there for a couple of years now.”

“I’d like to go see him,” Rollie said.  “There are some things he needs to know.”

“About his father, you mean?”

“Yes.  It’s time for him to know the truth.”

“Which is?”

Rollie met Angie’s eyes, silently asking her if she thought he should tell the Parkers what really happened.  Angie shrugged in reply, leaving the decision up to him.  Deciding that the truth was usually the best, he turned back to Fred and Cecilia.

“There’s a good chance that you won’t believe what I’m going to tell you.”  He looked at Cecilia.  “Well, maybe you will.”

Fred smiled faintly.  “I’ll try to keep an open mind.  Seeing what happened to that house certainly opened me to the possibility of an otherworldly explanation.”

“Oh, it is that, believe me, more otherworldly than you could guess.”

Rollie proceeded to tell the elderly couple the truth regarding the Powell house, leaving very little out.  By the time he was finished, their eyes were as round as saucers.  Cecilia turned to Angie.

“This is true?  You saw that thing?”

“I didn’t see it, but I saw what it did,” she replied.  “And I felt it.”  She gave a small shudder at the memory.

“This is an extraordinary story,” Fred said.  “I’m not sure if I completely believe it or not.  So, what about this other one you told us about?”

“I don’t know if she survived the battle,” Rollie replied.  “I guess the only way to know for sure is to go to the garden.”

“Do you think that’s wise?” Cecilia asked.  “I mean, what if the evil one is still up there?”

“I don’t think it is.  If it was still around, I think it would have tried to get at me again.  I just have a feeling that it’s gone.”

“I really hope you’re right.”

Fred gave Rollie the information about the nursing home Nicholas Powell was in and the phone number for Jerome Dickens, the man who owned the house Rollie and Angie were now interested in using.  After promising that they’d come back to visit the Parkers before they left for New York, Rollie and Angie said goodbye and headed for the former location of the Powell house.

Both of them gasped as they caught sight of the house, or, rather, the lack of it.  They got out of the car and approached the site.

“My God,” Rollie said.

There was nothing left of the house, with the exception of a thick coating of gray ash on the ground, a few unrecognizable lumps of melted, blackened metal, and a few shattered pieces of wood that had been scattered all across the property in the initial explosion.  There was not one single scorched timber, not one piece of furniture or appliance that remained where the house had stood.  Rollie tread across the ash to a large, misshapen blob of metal.

“It’s the refrigerator, Ange.  I have seen a lot of fires and a lot of burned out shells, but I have never seen a fire do that to a refrigerator.”

The Aussie cautiously approached the gaping hole that was the storm cellar, Angie coming up behind him.  For a long time, he just stared down into it.

“Rollie?” Angie said nervously.

“I don’t feel it, Ange.  I don’t feel anything at all.”

Angie visibly relaxed.  “Then it’s gone?”

“Yeah, it must be.”

“But is it dead?”

“That I don’t know.  I hope it is.”

Their thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a car approaching.  They turned to see a late model sedan pulling up beside their car.  As a man got out, Angie told Rollie that he was the guy investigating the fire.

“Wayne Crawford,” he introduced as he held out his hand to Rollie.

The Aussie shook the proffered hand.  “Rollie Tyler.”

“Yes, I recognized you from the hospital, Mister Tyler.  I went there to speak to Ms. Ramirez about the fire.  I didn’t realize that you had been released.”

“They discharged me this morning.”

“I had planned on returning to the hospital yesterday to talk to you, but I got called away on another case in the next town over.  That one proved to be a clear-cut case of arson.”  He looked about.  “But this one’s got me puzzled.  For one thing, it was an extremely hot burn, the hottest I’ve ever seen, and I’ve investigated hundreds of fires.  Usually, you will find something left that didn’t completely burn, and there are always the appliances, the kitchen sink, and other objects like that, that remain.”  He walked over to what had been the kitchen and dug under the ash to uncover a large, flat blob of metal.  “This is the sink,” he said.

The man straightened and met Rollie’s eyes.  “I understand that you and Ms. Ramirez are special effects experts.  You have to have knowledge of explosives and incendiary devices for that line of work, don’t you?”

The Aussie’s eyes did not waver from Crawford’s.  The tone of the man’s voice had not been accusatory, but Rollie knew that the investigator had not completely ruled out arson and that he and Angie were suspects.

“That’s right,” Rollie replied, “but, as I’m sure you have already found out, we had no motive to burn this house down.  In fact, we were going to use it for a movie we plan on filming.  We’re now going to have to look elsewhere.”

“Yes, that’s what Ms. Ramirez said.  I will be honest.  I did some checking up on you.  I found out about the fire in that building you were filming in, that the investigators initially believed you were responsible.”

Rollie’s eyes narrowed slightly.  “Then you must also know that we were completely cleared of all blame, that it was a case of arson that we had nothing to do with.”

Crawford nodded.  “Yes, I know.  In fact, the investigator made a notation in his case file that you helped them identify the accelerant used and helped catch the woman responsible for the fire.  The man who actually set the fire was killed.”  He looked around at the remains of the house again.  “This one has me stumped.  There appears to be no motive for arson in this case.  The house was not insured, and any sale of the property will go to charity.  No financial gain could be made by burning that house.  But the fact remains that a fire doesn’t burn this hot without the use of some kind of accelerant.  Yet we found no residue, no trace of anything whatsoever.  And that isn’t the only mystery here.”

The investigator walked over to one of the shattered pieces of wood that had been blasted from the house in the explosion.  As Rollie approached it, he realized that it was from a roof beam.

“This is from the roof,” Crawford said.  He fetched a second piece of wood from a few feet away.  “This is from a wall.  See the mildew on the edge of the board?  That means it was near the ground.  And this,” he got a third piece of wood, “is also from a wall, but higher up.  There are dozens of roof tiles lying about as well.”  He tossed the timbers back to the ground.  “In an explosion, most of the force is going to be in the immediate vicinity of the object that caused the explosion.  One of the only exceptions to that is in an explosion caused by a natural gas leak where the gas had filled the entire house.  In that case, the spark will ignite all the gas in the house, and widespread damage will result from the explosion.  I found no evidence that there was a gas leak in the house, yet all these timbers lying around seem to indicate that the explosion was not from a single source.  The entire house, from top to bottom was involved in the explosion.  It’s as if the very air within it exploded.  The only explanation I have for that is if the place was filled with pure oxygen.”

The man walked back over to where the house had stood.  “And this is one more mystery.”  He walked up to the edge of the cellar and pointed down at the walls.  “Even the wallboards in the cellar burned to ash.  And look at that concrete on the floor.  More evidence of the extreme heat of this fire.  Fire burns up, not down.  Unless the fire started in the cellar, which there is no evidence of, it should have survived a lot more intact.”  He shook his head.  “I hate unsolved mysteries, but I don’t think I’m going to find an answer for this one.  The lack of motive has pretty well convinced me that it’s not arson, so that may be where I’m just going to have to leave it.”  Crawford focused an intense gaze on Rollie.  “Unless you’ve got some idea what happened here.”

Knowing that he couldn’t possibly tell the man the truth, Rollie replied, “I’m afraid I can give you no answers to this mystery, Mister Crawford.  I’m sorry.”

“Well, I’m just going to have to close the books on this one with a lot of unanswered questions.  My supervisor wants me to finish it up and go on to other cases.”  Crawford pulled out a business card and handed it to Rollie.  “If you think of anything or find out something, give me a call.”

“Will do.”

Rollie and Angie watched the man drive away.

“He’d never have believed the truth,” Angie stated.

“No, that’s for sure, and he’d have thought we were both nuts if we’d told him.”

Rollie turned around and looked at the garden.  He was almost afraid to go there.  It would be terrible if he did, and he no longer felt Belilac’s presence.

Angie took his hand.  “Come on, Rol.  We need to find out.”

The couple approached the garden.  They both noted how the grass and brush all around the house had been killed by the heat from the fire, but that the garden was still green, with the exception of the trees, which were bright with their fall colors.

Rollie paused outside the wall, then went in with Angie.  He took a few steps into the garden, then stopped.  After a moment, a slow smile spread across his face.

“She’s still here,” he murmured.

Angie shared his smile.  “That’s great, Rol.  I’m glad.”

The smile left Rollie’s face, and his eyes closed.

“Rollie?  Is something wrong?”

“No, it’s all right,” he replied in a soft, dreamy voice, his eyes still closed.  He nodded slightly.  “I’ll be right back.”

“You’ll what?  Where are you going?”  There was no answer.  The Aussie’s expression was distant, trance-like.  Wondering what was going on, Angie watched him in concern.

With a distant part of his mind, Rollie had heard Angie's questions, but her presence had now faded away into the background as Belilac’s grew stronger.  He could feel her in his mind.

‘Hello,’ he said silently.

‘Greetings,’ replied a genderless voice.  ‘It is good that you are well.’

‘Yes, I’m all right.   I was worried about you, though.  I was afraid that you died in the fight with the other one.’

Belilac gave him a mental smile.  ‘I have never had a human worry about me before.  It is an interesting concept.’

‘Well, you did save mine and Angie’s lives.  We owe you a debt of gratitude.’

‘I did what needed to be done.  That one always sought to escape to the world above.  Much suffering would have resulted if it had succeeded.’  There was a moment of silence as Rollie felt himself being studied.  ‘But I do not think it would have succeeded, not using you.’

‘Why do you say that?’

‘Because your mind is strong enough to prevent yourself from being used in that way if you do not wish it.  Even when it was draining the life from you, you still fought it successfully.  Ironically, it partially had itself to blame for that.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘It inadvertently awakened your latent abilities, expanding your mind’s capacities.  That increased your natural ability to fight it.’

Rollie thought about that for a while, appreciating the irony.  ‘Is it dead?’ he finally asked.

‘We do not die in the way that corporeal beings do.  Its energies have been dispersed, and that which was its consciousness is no more.  So, in that way, yes, it is dead.’

‘Are there more like you and it?’

‘I am not alone,’ Belilac said, giving the impression that she would say no more on that subject.

‘I suppose you’re not going to tell me what you are or where you’re from.’

Belilac chuckled.  ‘You are very intelligent for a human.’

‘Thanks--I think.’

‘The female whom you are with.  She is your mate.’  The statement was spoken as fact, not a question.

‘Yeah, but if it hadn’t been for you, she wouldn’t have been.  I was always too afraid to tell her how I felt.  Because of you, I lost that fear.’

‘Do not give me credit for this.  She is your mate.  She has always been so, even if you did not copulate until now.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘You are linked to each other.  She is your true mate, the one who completes you, as you complete her.’

‘You mean like soul mates?’

Belilac pondered his question.  ‘Knowing what I do about your beliefs regarding the human soul, yes, that is an accurate statement.’

Rollie laughed.  ‘I wonder what Angie would say about that.’

‘She would agree.  You two are very strong together, stronger than each of you are alone.  Your offspring will be strong as well.’

Rollie thought of something.  ‘Will our children have this ability of mine?’

‘I do not know about any of the others, but the one who will come first will.’

‘How do you know that?  Can you see the future?’

‘No.  Unlike you, I do not have that ability.’

‘Then how do you know?’

‘When you open your inner senses, you will know the answer to that.’

Wondering what she meant by that, Rollie suddenly realized what else she’d said.  ‘What do you mean, unlike me?  Are you saying that I can see into the future?’

‘Why does this surprise you?  You have already done so once.’

‘That was a long time ago and under rather extreme circumstances.  It has never happened again.’

‘Only because you refuse to allow it.  When you are ready to accept that part of you, it will return.’

Deciding that he didn’t want to pursue that topic anymore, Rollie changed it. ‘What about you?  Are you trapped here just like that other one was?’

‘Unlike the other one, I do not think of it as being trapped.  This is my place.  I may not be able to leave it, but my consciousness can go elsewhere.  I have seen your world many times and have watched your species grow and mature.’

Rollie considered very seriously what he was about to say.  ‘Do you want to be released?  If . . . if you do, I’ll help.’ he said tentatively.  He sensed the surprise in Belilac the moment he said the words.

‘You are offering to release me from this place?’ she asked quietly.

‘Yes.’

There was a long silence during which Rollie felt and heard nothing.

‘This is unexpected,’ Belilac finally said.  ‘I had not believed that any human would make such an offer.  It is . . . a great gift.’

‘You saved my life and the life of the woman I love.  If I can repay you for that, I want to.’

He felt himself being studied even more closely than before.  ‘I am amazed.  I sense that you would seek to aid me even if you did not feel yourself in my debt.  You have done such things many, many times before for your fellow humans.’

Rollie was instantly embarrassed.  ‘I . . . do help people when I can.  It’s just something that I feel I need to do.’

‘It is a shame that all humans are not like you.  Your world would be a far better place.’

That made Rollie even more embarrassed.  ‘So, what’s your answer?’

‘This is a serious thing you are offering.  How do you know that I will not be like the other one and seek to do harm?  I must tell you that I could do great harm to your world if I wished to.’

‘Yes, I know.  I sensed that when the other one was trying to take control of me.  As for how I know that you wouldn’t do what the other one would, when you used me as your conduit to stop the other one, I . . . sensed some things about you.  I know you don’t have a heart, physically, but I got a look into it anyway.’

Again, he sensed surprise from Belilac.  ‘So, our connection was stronger than I had anticipated.  Once before I used a human to stop the other one, but that human did not come away from it with any knowledge of me.  In fact, he had no memory at all of the time that he served as a channel for my energies.’

‘I can remember every minute of it until I lost consciousness.  And I know about that other time.  I saw what you did.’

‘Again you surprise me.  No human has ever known me as you do.  Actually, this is, by far, the longest conversation I have had with one of your species.’

‘Does that upset you?’

Belilac thought about it for a moment.  ‘No, it does not.  It is interesting, though.  I never believed that I would have this kind of relationship with a human.’  Rollie sensed her smiling.  ‘It is actually quite pleasant.’

Rollie smiled as well.  ‘I’m glad you feel that way.  For what it’s worth, I’d have never believed in a million years that I’d have a relationship with someone like you.’

Belilac laughed softly.  ‘I should imagine not.’

There was a long silence between them.

‘This thing that you are offering is something that we must both think about carefully,’ Belilac said at last.  ‘Return to this place in one cycle of the moon.  I will give you my answer then.  Think long and hard about it.  Please know that I will not be angry if you change your mind.’

‘All right, I’ll do that.’

‘And, now, it is time for you to return to your mate.  She is getting very worried.’

‘Thank you for everything, Belilac.’

‘Thank you, Rollie Tyler.  You have shown me trust and revealed to me things that please me greatly.  I am grateful for that.’

Rollie felt himself returning to full consciousness of the physical world.  He blinked slowly and turned his eyes to Angie.  She looked a little pale and was watching him with deep concern.

“Rollie?  Are you okay?” and asked with a slightly trembling voice.

“Yeah, Ange.  I’m great.”

“What happened?  You were just standing there, totally out of it for so long.”

“I was talking to Belilac.”

“You . . . were talking to her?  You mean having an actual conversation?”  Angie’s eyes had widened.

“Yeah.  She explained some things to me.”

“Like what she is?  Where she came from?” Angie asked eagerly.

Rollie grinned.  “Sorry, Love.  That’s something she didn’t tell me.”

Angie sighed in disappointment.  “Too bad.  I’m dying of curiosity.”

Rollie laughed softly.  “Some things will just have to remain a mystery, sweetie.  Come on.  Let’s go.”

They went to the motel.  As they entered their room, Rollie went to the bed and laid his hand on it.  A big smile spread across his face.

“What are you doing?” Angie asked curiously.  “And what’s the meaning of that big, silly grin?”

“The bed.  It feels like us.”

“Huh?”

“Our ‘impressions’ are in it, the impressions of our lovemaking.  I touch it, and I can see everything that happened last night and the night before.”

Angie came up to him.  “Wow.  That’s really something.  So, this means that you’ve still got that ability.”

Rollie sat on the bed.  “Yeah.  I’m afraid I’m not going to get rid of it.”

“Why would you want to?”

“Angie, seeing images of everyone that touched an object, everything that was done with it is pretty overwhelming and incredibly distracting.  I was even seeing things in the car.  The last person who sat in that seat was a fifty year old woman with an ulcer who was visiting her grandchildren with her husband.”

“My gosh.  I had no idea it was like that,” Angie said in awe.  “You’re right.  That would be pretty overwhelming.”

“I need to try to control it, learn some way to block it out when I don’t want it.”

“I’m sure that, as you gain experience, you’ll be able to do that.”  She sat on the bed beside him.  “So, you see any interesting things that went on in this bed before we had it?” she asked with a mischievous grin.

“Angela Kathleen Ramirez!  I’m ashamed of you!” Rollie said in a mock tone of shock and disapproval.  “Are you asking me to be a voyeur?”

Angie didn’t reply.  Her grin just grew bigger.

Rollie sighed and closed his eyes, trying to dig underneath the impressions of him and Angie in the bed to whomever had occupied it before.  As he did, Angie brushed his arm with her own.  Rollie gasped sharply as he suddenly became aware of something.  His eyes flew open, and he stared at his partner.

“Rollie, what’s wrong?  Why are you staring at me like that?”

Not answering, the Aussie swallowed tightly.  His gaze had turned soft and deep.  He took her hand in both of his.

“Angie, you remember when I said that, when the time was right, I’d ask a certain question?”

Angie’s heart skipped a beat.  “Yes,” she whispered.

“I’m asking it now.  Will you marry me?”

Angie drew in a sharp breath.  She stared at Rollie, her mind whirling.  Then, the only answer that she would even think of giving came to her lips.  “Yes.”

Rollie pulled her into his arms and kissed her deeply.  “You have no idea how happy you’ve made me.”

Angie drew back and laid her hand on his cheek.  “Why now, Rollie?  We only just became lovers.  Why are you asking all of a sudden?”

Rollie removed her hand from his cheek and clasped it between his.  “Because Belilac told me that you have always been my mate, my soul mate, long before we became lovers, and because,” he drew in a deep breath, “because, in nine months, we’re going to have a baby.”

Angie’s face paled.  “A . . . a baby?” she squeaked.

“Yeah.  You’re pregnant, Angie.  Just then, a moment ago, I felt the baby inside you.  It was conceived in the garden.”

“But . . . but that’s not possible.  I’m on the Pill.”

“Nevertheless, it happened, Angie.  From what I can remember, those pills are not one hundred percent foolproof.”

Angie’s eyes drifted away from his to stare across the room.  “I’m pregnant?” she murmured in a voice that reflected her shock.

“Do you want the baby?” Rollie asked worriedly.

Angie turned back to him and saw the look on his face.  “Oh, Rollie.  Of course I want the baby.  It’s your baby.  From the day we met, I knew that I’d never want to have anyone’s children but yours.  I just didn’t expect it to happen this fast.”

“But, now that it has, Angie, I want to do everything I can to make a good life for him.”  He grinned.  “And the first thing to do is to ‘make an honest woman’ out of his mother.”

Angie slapped his arm, laughing.  “Rollie, that is so . . . so. . . .”

“Old-fashioned?  What can I say?  I’m an old-fashioned kind of guy.”

Angie smiled at him lovingly.  Then she realized something.  “You said ‘him’.  Rollie, are you saying it’s a boy?”

“I . . . don’t know.  It’s just a feeling I have.”

“A boy.” Angie smiled softly.  “I hope you’re right.  I want a little boy who looks just like you, with big, beautiful brown eyes and soft, curly brown hair.”

Rollie made a face.  “Now, why would you want to do that to the poor kid?  He’d be a lot better off looking like you.”

“Hey!” Angie said sternly.  “Don’t you be insulting my husband-to-be!  I happen to think that he is simply gorgeous.”

“Well, they say that love is blind.  I guess they’re right.”

Angie frowned at him.  “Then just about every woman who’s looked at you must have been in love with you too, because I happen to know that they would agree with me.”

Rollie blushed, ducking his head.  “I’m sure you’re mistaken,” he mumbled.

“I’m not, but that’s an argument for another time.”

Relieved to change the subject, Rollie said, “Belilac knew that you were pregnant.”

“She did?  Did she say something about it?”

“She mentioned that our children would be strong, like us, and I asked her if they would have my . . . unusual abilities.”  Rollie looked at her closely.  “She told me that the first one will.”

“He will?  But not the others?”

“She didn’t know.  She can’t see into the future.  She obviously knew about the first one because he had already been conceived.”

Angie was silent for a moment.  “Rollie, do you . . . do you think it’s possible that she had something to do with me getting pregnant?  I still can’t believe that I got pregnant while on the Pill.”

Rollie sat in stunned silence, wondering if she could be right.  Had Belilac had a hand in the conception?  Had she somehow negated the effects of the birth control pills so that Angie would become pregnant?  Why would she do that?

“I don’t know, Angie.  I don’t know why she’d do something like that.”

“If she did, there must have been a good reason for it.”

“Yeah, but what?”  Rollie pushed the thought out of his mind for the moment.  “Angie, there’s something I should tell you.  I offered to release Belilac.”

Angie looked at him in surprise.  “You did?  What did she say?”

“She suggested that we wait a month and think about it.  I’m going to come back then.”

“Not that I’m not grateful for all she did, but do you think it’s wise to release something so powerful into the world?”

“She wouldn’t harm anyone, Angie.  I’m sure of that.  And it could be that she might be able to do some good.  Besides, I think she deserves to be free.”

Angie nodded.  “Yeah, I think so too.”  A slow smile spread across her face.  “Soooo, about this bed.”  She leaned in close to her fiancé.  “How would you like to make some more impression in it?”

Rollie’s eyes darkened and he pulled her close, running his hand down her buttocks and thigh.  “I can’t think of another thing I’d rather do with my time.”  Capturing her mouth with his, he lowered her onto the bed.

November 5, 1999

Rollie and Angie walked up the path to the nursing home in which Nicholas Powell resided.  The Aussie had called ahead and learned that the man was in poor health and not expected to live for many more months but that his mind was clear.

The couple went to the desk and inquired where they could find him.  The woman told them that he was presently outside.  She took them to the door leading out to the garden and pointed to a lone figure in a wheelchair.  Thanking her, Rollie and Angie approached the man.

As they stopped in front of him, the old man looked up at them with blue eyes that had a sad, haunted look in them.

“Hello.  Are you Nicholas Powell?” Rollie asked gently.

“Yes.  Who are you?”

Rollie sat in a chair beside him.  “My name’s Rollie Tyler.  This is my fiancée, Angie Ramirez.  I, um . . . have something to tell you.  It’s about your family, about your father.”

The man gasped sharply.  His eyes speared into the Aussie.  “What do you know about my family?”

“I know what happened when you were ten years old.  I know what your father did.”

Anger filled Nicholas’s face.  “If you’re some kind of reporter who found out about all that, I don’t want to talk to you.”

“No, we’re not reporters.  We were . . . we were there, in the house, your house.”  Rollie stopped for a moment, trying to figure out how he was going to say this.  “We went there to look at the house for a movie we’re going to be filming, but I, um. . . .  Things started happening.”  He stopped again.  Deciding just to spit it all out, he took a deep breath.  “I saw things, Mister Powell.  I saw what happened, all of it.  I saw your father kill your mother, your brother and your sisters, I saw you hiding under the bed, praying that he wouldn’t find you.  I saw him come up the stairs, burst into your room, and drag you out from under the bed.  I saw him . . . kill you.”

All the color had drained out of the old man’s face.  He was staring at Rollie as if he was a ghost, which, at any other time, might have amused the Aussie.

“You . . . you saw it?”

“Yeah.”  He wasn’t going to tell the man that he also felt it, relived it in every detail.

“Are you some kind of psychic?”

Rollie shifted in his chair uncomfortably.  “I wasn’t before I stepped in that house, but now. . . .”  He shrugged, not wanting to talk about it.  He leaned forward.  “I wanted to tell you that it wasn’t your father’s fault,” he said intently.  “He had no control over what he did.  He was very ill.  Something drove him insane, something that was not within his power to stop.  He didn’t do it deliberately, Nicholas.  In his right mind, he’d never have wanted to harm you and your family.  He loved you.  He loved you all more than anything.  When he regained his mind and realized what he’d done, it hurt him so much.  He took his life because of his grief and guilt.  He couldn’t live without you and knowing what he’d done.”

Tears welled up into Nicholas’s eyes and fell down his wrinkled cheeks.  Not knowing what else to do, Rollie wrapped his arms around the man as he wept, soft sobs shaking his frail frame.  It was several minutes before the man quieted.  He pulled away from Rollie, wiping his face with a handkerchief he fumbled out of his pocket.

“I never wanted to believe that he did it on purpose,” he murmured huskily.  “My father was a good, kind man.  He’d never hurt anybody.”  He looked deeply into Rollie’s eyes.  “Did you feel that . . . that thing?”

“What thing?” Rollie asked, tensing.

“I died.  I know I died.  But then, something came to me.  It touched me, inside of me.  It brought me back to life.  I tried to tell people about it, but they didn’t believe me.  They thought I was crazy.  So, I stopped talking about it.”

Rollie smiled gently.  “You were right.  Something did bring you back.  She came from your mother’s garden.  Her name is Belilac.”

“It has a name?  It was real?”

“Very real.”  Rollie’s expression darkened.  “There was another one, one that was evil.  It lived where your house was.  It’s what drove your father insane.”

“Is it still there?” Nicholas asked, accepting Rollie’s statement completely.

“No, it’s dead.  It tried to use me the same way it wanted to use your father.  I fought it, and then Belilac came, and they battled.  She won.  The house was destroyed.  There’s nothing left of it.”

“And the garden?”

“It’s still there, and so is Belilac.”

Nicholas ran his eyes over Rollie’s face then looked back into his eyes.  “Thank you.  Thank you so much for telling me this.  I finally feel as if . . . as if I can rest in peace.”  His eyes glinted with fresh tears.

Sensing that the old man wanted to be alone, Rollie stood.  “It was right that you should know.  I know what it’s like to have doubts about your father, to wish with your whole heart that things could have been different with him.  I wouldn’t want anyone else to feel that way.”  He gave Nicholas his card.  “If you ever want to know more, just call me.”

“Thank you.”

The Aussie turned to leave.

“Mister Tyler?”

Rollie turned back to the man.

“I hope that, someday, you will find the same peace with your father.”

Rollie blinked back his tears.  “So do I.”

He and Angie left, walking out of the garden and toward what lay in store for them.
 

EPILOGUE

Rollie stood at the edge of the stone wall, looking into Hannah’s garden.  It was one month since he’d agreed to return.  Angie had not come with him.  She had told him that this was something he needed to do on his own.

Rollie smiled happily, looking down at the ring on his left hand.  He and Angie had been married in a quiet ceremony two weeks after they returned home.  Only a few friends had attended the ceremony, including Mira, Frank, and his family.  Frank and Sarah had been ecstatic about the whole thing, declaring that they’d known all along that Rollie and Angie belonged together.  And when they found out that Angie was pregnant, you’d have thought that they were the parents themselves.

Putting his happy memories away for another time, Rollie stepped into the garden.  Soon, he became aware of Belilac’s presence.  He stopped and waited for her to come to him.

‘Hello, Rollie Tyler,’ her voice said in his mind.

‘Hello.  It’s been a month.’

‘Yes, it has.’  She smiled.  ‘I see that you know about the child.’

‘Yeah.  I guess those inner senses you talked about kicked in.  Belilac, did you have something to do with Angie getting pregnant?’

Belilac chuckled.  ‘I think you are aware of how such things happen, Rollie Tyler.’

‘You know what I mean.  Angie was taking a type of drug that is supposed to prevent pregnancy.  Yet it happened anyway, the very first time we had sex.  Did you do something to make the drug ineffective?’

‘And if I did, what reason would I have for doing this?’

‘I don’t know.  That’s why I’m asking.’

There was a long silence.  ‘Everything happens for a reason, Rollie Tyler, every birth, every death.  Some have a greater meaning behind them, others are just because of circumstances.’

‘Which one is this?’

‘That is something I cannot say.  Every child is special, and every one has the potential to do great things.  Yours will be no different.’

Sensing that the topic was at an end, Rollie mentally nodded.  ‘I’ve come about the offer I made to you.’

‘Yes.  Have you changed your mind?’

‘No.  If you want to be released, I will help you.’

‘I have thought of it much, and I have reached my decision.  I have decided that my answer is no.’

‘Why?’ Rollie asked, surprised.

‘I have my reasons.  They are ones that it would be best for you not to know.’  She studied Rollie.  ‘You are sad about my decision.  Why?’

‘I just wanted you to be free, to be happy, like I’m happy.’

The Aussie sensed something that felt like a hand touching his arm gently.

‘You are a kind man, Rollie Tyler.  It is pleasing to me that I have come to know you.’

‘Do you think you might ever change your mind?’

‘It could be.  The future is always full of surprises.  If that time comes, I will let you know.’  She paused.  ‘Will you return someday?’

‘Yes.  We’re going to be filming a movie in this area early next May.  Angie and I will come to visit you.’  Rollie grinned.  ‘By then, she will be showing quite a bit.’

‘This pleases me too.  There is only one favor I would ask of you.’

‘What?  Anything you want.’

‘Name him Benarin.’

‘Him?  Then it is a boy?’

‘Yes.  But then, you already knew that.’

‘Why Benarin?’

‘It is a name that has meaning to me.’

‘Then that’s what we’ll name him,’ Rollie told her.

‘Thank you.’  Rollie sensed her smiling at him.  ‘Goodbye, Rollie Tyler.  Until we meet again.’  With those words, she was gone.  Rollie opened his eyes and looked about the garden.  With a faint sigh, he turned around and walked away.

Rollie snuggled Angie up against him on the couch.  He’d returned home three days ago and had been keeping busy with her on their present F/X job.  They had just finished for the day and were now enjoying a quiet evening together.

“You know, when you get further along in your pregnancy, you’re going to have to start taking it easy,” Rollie commented, placing a hand on his wife’s still-flat belly.

She looked at him narrowly.  “Don’t you get into that head of yours that I’m going to let you coddle me just because I’m pregnant,” she said warningly.  “I will be perfectly capable of working well into my third trimester.  My doctor said that, as long as I get plenty of rest and eat right, there’s no reason to stop working until I reach my eighth or ninth month.”

Rollie held up a hand in surrender.  “Me try to coddle you?  I’m not an idiot, Ange.  I know you wouldn’t let me get away with that.”  He leaned into her ear.  “So, does that mean that you won‘t want me to rub your feet and give you back massages when they’re hurting?” he whispered.

“Hmm.  Well, a little coddling wouldn’t hurt, I suppose,” Angie replied, also in a whisper, a moment before bringing her husband’s lips to hers.

The kiss was just starting to grow heated when the phone rang.

“Bloody hell,” Rollie muttered, earning a giggle from Angie.  Shooting her a glare, he told Bluey to put the call on speakerphone.

“Rollie?  It’s Fred Parker.”

“Hey, Fred.  How are you and Cecilia doing?”

“We’re good.  Um, I wanted to tell you that Nicholas Powell passed away yesterday.”

Rollie felt a twinge of sadness.  “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Don’t be.  I talked to the people at the nursing home.  They told me that he was happy and content this past month, ever since your visit.  They said that he was ready to go, that he’d found his peace.”

Rollie’s throat tightened.  “I’m happy to hear that.”

“I don’t know how much you told him about what happened, but he must have been very grateful to you.  He had me write a will for him.  He left you everything, Rollie, the property that the house was on and what’s left of the money in the estate.”

Rollie and Angie sat in stunned silence.  “I . . . I don’t know what to say,” the Aussie said.

“You don’t have to say anything.  You did something that meant a lot to Nicholas; you gave him peace of mind about his father. This was the way he chose to repay you.”

“So, uh, what do I have to do?”

“There are some papers to sign, which I will send to you.  I’ll take care of transferring the deed over to you.  Do you want me to write you a check for the money?  It’s not a great deal, only around seven thousand dollars.”

“No, I don’t want the money, Fred.  I’d like you to donate it to a charity for sick children in Nicholas Powell’s name.”

“It would be my privilege, Rollie.  What about the property?”

The Aussie looked at Angie.  “We’ll keep it.  The garden is there.”

“I understand.”

A few minutes later, the call ended.  Rollie laid his head against the couch’s backrest.  “The garden is ours, Angie.”

“Yeah.  That’s a good thing.  We don’t have to worry about what will be done with the property.  So . . . what are we going to do with it?”

Rollie smiled down at her.  “Well, it isn’t Florida, but how about that house with the picket fence I mentioned a while ago?”

Angie grinned brightly.  “And the 2.5 kids?”

“Of course.  After all, we’ve already got forty percent of them in the works.”

Laughing, Rollie and Angie met each other’s lips, sealing their plans of the future with a kiss.
 

THE END