9: Hope
Raven caught her breath that morning, looking out the window. It was a beautiful day. The sun was just beginning to peep from the horizon, and already the sky was unfolding in golden, rosy splendor. Light was spreading from the horizon toward her, throwing a glow like a net over everything in its path... How could such a morning come when Raven expected rain? Rain would match how she felt, how she had been feeling for the past week now...
"Hey," Jim whispered, his mouth at her ear as he approached from behind. He wrapped his good arm around her waist and pulled her close. They were cheek-to-cheek, looking out the window. "Isn't it a beautiful day?"
Raven sighed and bit her lip. "I wish I could say yes, Jim. But very few things seem beautiful these days..."
Jim grunted. "You can't say that, Ray. You can't."
"Why not?" she asked.
In answer, Jim unfolded his arm from her waist and picked up a little frame on the side table and held it up for both of them to see. He pressed the little button on the corner with his thumb, and instantly, the hologram came to life. Jim was lying on the couch, asleep, when Micha and Andrew popped out of nowhere and crept up on him. At the last moment, he sat up and surprised them, and he grabbed them round their middles and pulled them onto the sofa, where they sat together laughing and tickling each other.
"Now tell me that's not beautiful, Ray."
She gave a soft murmur and leaned against him. She had to smile. It was always wonderful when Jim was around. A simple whispered word, a meaningful look, the touch of his hand - they could all wipe her troubles away...
Knock, knock.
Creak. "Um, Jimmy, Ray-Ray? Breakfast is ready, and I, just wanted to let you know, because breakfast as they say is the most important meal of the day, and I don't want you guys to miss out, 'cause I made scrambled eggs and everything, and - "
"I get the idea, B.E.N.," Jim said with a laugh. The clanking yellow droid grinned, and his LCD eyes flashed horizontal lines cheerily. "We'll be right out; just go on ahead. Don't let the twins use the stove again."
Raven sighed. Every morning, there were sweet moments like these when she and her family simply enjoyed each other's company. At the breakfast table, Jim, Micha, and Andrew would compete with their tall tales, and Raven would laugh or clap appreciatively every time. Then she would help them rush into their playclothes and watch, shaking her head in amusement as they dashed off. She'd go to the dancing school and work with her students. And if Jim were home from space, like he was now, they'd sit on their little window seat and whisper all those little nothings, that, when you think about it, can show everything...
But she hadn't been able to fully enjoy her family's company for a week now. She wondered if she'd been neglecting Jim, the twins, her students as much as she felt she was - but they did try their best to be cheerful. The twins, being so innocent, didn't seem to know how much it affected her, but they proved themselves, time and again, to be wise beyond their years. Jim did his best to support her, and she was grateful. But oh, this week... this week, Raven had been in a daze...
She had to be thankful, though, that some forces had brought Andrew back to her, even if those forces involved his guns. She had to be thankful that Jim was alive, that Andrew hadn't succeeded in his mission. She had to be thankful that this long-lost son of hers had some good in him after all; he did save his brother's life. She had to be thankful that Jim had come home; if the Ravenna hadn't been tied up at the dock, the First Mate would never have seen both boys leave the inn. He wouldn't have tailed them. He wouldn't have doubled back to the Benbow, and they wouldn't have been able to rush to that abandoned building in the city...
Raven shut her eyes tight as she recalled the scene: she'd thought they were both dead, lying there on the first landing. All that blood, all the fear and tear streaks on her little boy's face, all the pain and sorrow etched into that of her now-grown son... But there had still been time, and there had still been hope, and Raven couldn't let go of that hope now.
"I'm going back to the hospital today," she whispered.
=*=
The carriage was ready. Raven pulled on her coat as she rushed down the stairs, and she hurriedly kissed Jim on the cheek. "Goodbye, Jim. Please take care of the twins for me."
Jim smiled and pulled her close, and she gratefully embraced him tightly. "Don't worry," he answered, "their Daddy's not letting them out of his sight."
Micha leaped up, and Raven caught her up to kiss her goodbye. Then she leaned to kiss Andrew, whom Jim was holding. "Bye, Mama," Micha said. Jim put Andrew down, took Micha from his wife, and set her down, too, all with his good arm. He grimaced at Raven. Then Micha added, "When will we get to see Big Andrew?"
Raven sighed. "Darling, he's still feeling bad today, okay? And he's still in his deep sleep," she answered in a low voice. "You'll have to wait till he's awake, okay?" If he ever wakes...
"Okay."
"Goodbye, Ray," Jim said, kissing her again. Raven breathed a goodbye and then turned for the door.
From where she had been watching, a young girl of sixteen with pale gold hair and dark blue eyes stood up. She had a fearful but determined look on her young face, but she stood to her full height and took her companion's hand. This companion was a seven-year-old boy with dark hair and eyes, and if anyone had taken a good look at him, they would have made a connection between him and the recent events immediately.
"Excuse me," the girl said, striding over to Raven at the door. Raven looked exasperated; the girl was blocking the way. But she wouldn't let her pass. "Are you about to visit Andrew Calls?"
Raven stopped and looked at the girl closely. Then she looked down at the little boy, who immediately stepped back and moved a little behind the girl. He looked just like...
"Yes. Yes, why?" Raven asked, wary. What did this girl want?
The girl took a deep breath, and said, "We came as soon as this came out," as she held up the rolled newspaper in her hands. The nameplate said Capernæuma Weekly. Raven's eyes widened as she saw the the front page. Tycoon's missing son a hero. The page had several pictures, and her eyes pored over them. One was of Andrew, her long-lost Andrew - it was obviously a yearbook picture, but he wasn't smiling. The second picture was of four people standing on the front steps of a huge mansion. Andrew was one of the four; he stood a bit apart from the others and stared defiantly into the camera. The other three shocked her: Simon himself and his new wife smiling, with their own son at Simon's side.
Raven sat down, taking the paper from the girl's hand. She never thought she'd see that face again. But here he was, staring up at her, still with that devious glint in his eye... Simon. She bit her lip and scanned the rest of the page, trying to push that unwanted face out of her mind. Somehow, Capernæuma Weekly had managed to get her own family portrait, with Jim and the twins. There was an inset with a closeup on "Andrew Aldebaran Hawkins, age 4". Then Raven went through the article. It said that Andrew Calls had disappeared shortly after his father's murder and his stepmother's arrest. Then there were details about his rescue of the little boy, but there was still no information on his relation to the child...
Raven looked at the little boy clutching the girl's hand, and then she looked back at the picture of Simon's family. The boy in the picture and the boy in the entrance area of the Benbow were the same. Raven asked softly, "Who are you, and why are you here?"
He answered shyly, "I'm Jordan. Alison took me here to see Andrew."
Raven then looked up at the girl. "You're Alison?"
She nodded. "We hope we aren't bothering you," she began, "but we wanted to see him so much. Andy wasn't really that close to Jordan, but Jordan really looked up to him; they were still brothers, you know? And now that we know where he is..." A tear formed in the corner of her eye, and she wiped it away. She cast her eyes to the floor and took deep breaths.
"Sit down," Raven said softly. She was now even more dazed than she had been when Andrew had first come back. She watched Alison sit down across her, and she watched Jordan scramble onto the chair next to the girl.
"What about you," Raven asked. "Are you their sister?"
Alison wiped her eyes and gave a soft laugh. Then she bit her lip and averted her eyes. "I'm his wife."
