As my eyes follow the little girl walking around in the greyhound, my thoughts dream off to my very own childhood. When I was ten years old, my mother decided I needed a break from the rush she always let me go through. See, my mother is not the kind of 'settle down, have kids and be married happily ever after' type, which makes me consider if I was ever really wanted – anyhow. I was there and she had to take care of me. I never really missed something, she was always there for me, we were a team, strong and independent, moving from one place to the another. Until I was ten. She met this guy, Kay, and from then on things changed. Suddenly she was a great fan of settling down and it wasn't just me and her anymore. It was mum, Kay and me. So we lived in LA, and I loved it there. I started making friends and I even had a boyfriend for a brief time. But it wasn't enough, I missed my mum but Kay was always easy on me. He treated me as if I were his own daughter – small problem, I wasn't. So I acted stubborn and mean and everything but daughter-like to him. Mum is still upset with me, I know that, but that doesn't stop me from the main goal in my life nowadays – to find my father.
It wasn't easy to find a start, you know. I knew nothing of my father, mum never talked about the man who made her pregnant with me. She refers to it as a 'different period in her life', or (my personal favourite) 'I was a whole other woman back then'. Thanks, though, mum, so considerate. Don't get me wrong, I love her and she loves me and that had been enough for ten years. Yeah, until Kay.
Kay is a good guy, again, don't get me wrong. I like him, which is probably why I find him annoying. Mum has just never been the same anymore. The team was gone, we were gone, and Kay was there. He treats my mother right and I love that he cares about us so much. But I want the team to be back. One day, I talked about it to my mum, it was actually two years ago. I was fifteen then and I cuddled up to her on the couch, softly saying: "I have a mission for us."
"A mission?" she had given me that smile I used to see every day, a smile full of excitement and energy, one that said 'hell yeah to adventure!'.
"Yes," I had answered, "a mission. The team has been on hold for so long, it's time to go on another great adventure!"
My mum's smile had disappeared all of a sudden. "Oh honey, you know I wouldn't like anything more than that, but Kay…"
Kay. Always Kay. And me? No me. And no we. So I never talked to her about it again. And I started the mission on my own. I went through her stuff whenever she wasn't looking, it took me a year (because she is always around of course) to find something of value. Something that seemed to be a clue to whoever was my father. It was a picture of a young girl, blonde hair braided together and eyes as blue as the sky.
I stole the picture and started research. It was an old picture, so I couldn't possibly use a scanner or Google or whatever. I went to the library and asked around if anyone, just anyone, had seen that girl in the picture. And it turned out to be my aunt.
Katherine Malcoms. She lives in La Push, Washington. So that's where I'm headed, destined to find out more about my family. Desperate to reunite the team (or a new one).
"Miss? Would you like some water?"
I look up to the woman sitting on the other side of the aisle and nod. "Yes, thank you."
"It won't be too long now, we'll be there soon. You look kind of pale, though. Everything okay?" She gives me a worried smile.
I sigh and look outside the little window. "Yeah, I'm fine."
Clouds and rain…
Welcome to Washington, Luce, I thought to myself.
Stretching my legs has been the most beautiful moment of the day for me. I crack my neck and ankles and wait for the bus driver to take out the luggage of all the passengers. Oh my God, a bus drive of two days and nearly six hours. I am exhausted, but I can't rest now, it's ten in the morning and I have a lot to do once I've checked into the motel I booked. The plan is to find my aunt today and try to convince her to come back with me to LA, to talk to my mum and make her tell me everything about my father.
Oh boy.
"Hello? Girl? Your stuff." The bus driver is waving at me and I realise that all the other passengers have already left. I thank him and take my big bag in my hands, pull it over my shoulder and start walking towards a taxi… or well, a place where I can find a taxi.
My mind is anywhere but the motel I have to check into, so when the taxi driver (whom I finally found somewhere near the bus station) asks me whereto, I simply shake my head and stutter: "Eh… some motel?"
"You don't know where you're staying?" the lady asks friendly. She smiles and sighs. "Well, let me guess: you're here to see a boy and now you can't concentrate on the address, right?"
Well, part of it is true. Except that boy is not a boy, but a man – my father. Or, first my aunt. Whatever. What was the name of that… hmm… I try looking for the papers of my reservation, but I can't find them anywhere.
"Who is it you're looking for, doll?" the lady asks, now a bit worried.
"Katherine Malcoms," I say without thinking. Oh, snap.
The lady frowns. "Kat? Why would you look for her?"
I stop searching for my papers. "You know her?"
"Everybody does," she shrugs. "Kat and her boys are a bit… weird."
Kat and her boys? Does she have sons? Do I have cousins? I wonder how many.
"She lives up the reservoir. Near the beach. Do you want me to drive you to her?"
"Actually… no, drive me to the nearest pub instead, please."
The taxi driver shakes her head and shifts to one gear. "You are a strange girl, but the nearest pub it is!"
It takes the lady half an hour to drive me to the nearest pub I asked her to bring me to. It is called 'The Wolf' and I take a minute to look at the old inn, because that's exactly what it is. An inn. It's a wooden cottage, not so big, but very cosy. A big sign above the door says 'A warm welcome to you all'. I pay the taxi driver and let her take my stuff out of the car. With the unhandy bag on my shoulder, I march to the door of the inn, taking a deep breath before entering. I am not at all surprised to see that I'm the only person in a pub at 11 in the morning, but I guess I was just curious. The best place to search for a person is by listening to rumours, and what's a better occasion to overhear rumours while sitting in a pub and drinking a pint? Right.
Inside it's even cosier, with a real fireplace in the left corner of the inn. The bar is long, with wooden stools standing in front of it. The rest of the inn is full of small tables and chairs. On the walls there's a variety of pictures and posters. I don't have the time to examine them, so I drop my stuff in front of the bar and look for the bartender… who is not here. The inn is completely empty.
I clear my throat as loud as I can, but no one answers. Then the door behind me cracks open and I turn around. An old man, his hair being long and black, walks in and looks at me with a curious face. He goes to sit on a stool and looks at me again.
"Mary! Guests!" he scoffs, still keeping his eyes on me. I feel a little threatened by his eyes burning off the skin on my face, so I turn my head.
"Who are you?" the old man asks, not very friendly.
I swallow. "Just a visitor."
He laughs. "I can see that. A name, please? You're not from Washington."
I look at the man. His expression changed from threatening to suspicious. "Eh… I'm Luce."
"Luce," he repeats and then he opens his mouth again to say something, but a woman appears behind the bar, giving the man a punishing look.
"Billy, please, don't scare that girl away. Honey, what can I get you?" The woman is middle-aged, has exactly the same skin-colour as the old man, except for her hair, that is brown and not oil-black.
I swallow again. "Information, actually."
