Chapter 4

Kaylee glanced up at the sky nervously. She knew she didn't have much time left. Pretty soon, the sunlight filtering down through the trees would start to give way to early evening shadows and the curse which had lain dormant within her since the last full moon, would slowly awaken once more. She looked at the trees lining the dirt path on either side of them and noted that the shadows they were casting seemed to be getting longer and darker by the minute. She instinctively picked up her pace. Although there were still several hours of daylight left, Kaylee knew she needed to get home soon and isolate herself from everyone before the curse started to rear its ugly head and she lost control of her thoughts and her actions.

And ultimately, her body as well…

Suddenly, she felt Travis' hand on her arm as he gently pulled her back, forcing her to slow her pace. She looked over at him and noticed that his expression was grim.

"Slow down, Kaylee." His voice had a serious undertone and she sensed he was uncomfortable about something. He avoided making eye-contact as he spoke after a reluctant pause.

"There's more I need to tell you about your mother and if I don't get it out now, I don't think I'll ever be able to talk about it again."

Kaylee felt her heart skip a beat and she stopped abruptly. "Uncle, Travis. You've already told me more about her than anyone ever has."

She smiled at him in gratitude, then gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. "But I know that talking about her makes you sad and I don't want to upset you anymore."

Travis took a deep breath and put on a brave smile. "My dear, sweet Kaylee. You've never asked me to do anything for you."

His smile wavered and he gave a resigned sigh. "As hard as this is for me to talk about, I feel that you deserve to hear the whole story." Travis felt tears threatening to form as he fought to contain the sorrow building up inside his chest. He closed his eyes and turned his head to the side so she wouldn't notice.

"Let me do this for you now."

Kaylee nodded appreciatively. "Thank you, uncle Travis."

Travis put his arm around her shoulders and the two of them continued walking along the trail as he spoke quietly. "Your mother and father had a happy life together. I don't think I've ever seen two people who were more in love than they were."

He paused and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Not that I am any kind of expert when it comes to love as you can see…"

Kaylee laughed lightly. "Don't be so mean to yourself, uncle Travis! You know we all love you just as you are."

Travis snorted in amusement. "Anyway, your dad ended up doing what he loved. He became leader of Hackett's Quarry Summer Camp after our parents retired and now, he gets to teach children about the wonders of nature and how to make the most of being in the great outdoors."

Travis' tone suddenly turned melancholic and he let out a sad sigh. "As for your mother, her dreams of becoming a dancer never happened. After they got married, she helped Chris out around the Camp a lot. She was the theatre coach for a while and would also fill in at the nurse's station whenever the Camp was short-staffed. When Caleb was born, she stayed home and looked after him while Chris was busy running the Camp. But she still liked to dance any chance she got."

Travis remembered seeing Amelia dancing with Caleb one time and despite the heaviness he felt in his heart, he couldn't help smiling with fondness at the memory. "When Caleb was a toddler, Amelia would dance with him a lot. I came home from work one day and saw her dancing with Caleb in the front yard. She was holding him so that his feet were on top of her own feet and they were spinning around and laughing like they were having the time of their lives. When she noticed me watching them, she reminded me of how I had stood her up all those years ago when I refused to be Johnny in her Dirty Dancing school production. Then she picked up Caleb and proudly declared how she intended to raise him to be a great dancer and that he would dance for her one day."

Travis shook his head reflectively. "When I told her that she had always been a dreamer, she just laughed and insisted that dreams can come true if you're patient and persistent enough. Even though she never got to be a dancer, she just wanted to give her children every opportunity to do whatever they dreamed of becoming."

Kaylee listened with a heavy heart. "It sounds like my mom was an amazing and loving person." She felt tears beginning to roll down her cheeks and she looked down at the ground guiltily.

"I really wish I could have met her…"

Travis turned to her and gently wiped away her tears with his finger. "Sweetheart. If you thought she was happy back then, you should have seen her when she was pregnant with you! No one could wipe the smile off her face!"

He let out a soft chuckle. "When she found out that she was going to have a little girl, she was over the moon with joy. She said that she was going to teach you to be the best dancer the world has ever known…"

Travis made a strangled sound in the back of his throat and dropped his gaze from hers evasively. "I don't know if anyone told you, but you were born one month prematurely."

Kaylee shook her head at him despairingly. "I told you, uncle Travis. No one tells me anything!"

"This is the first time I'm hearing any of this." Her voice was full of hurt and exasperation.

Travis nodded in understanding. He could feel a tight knot of guilt settling in his gut as though someone had plunged a knife into his stomach and was twisting it around. He was really struggling to maintain his composure by this point. But he took a deep breath and spoke as calmly as he could. "When Amelia was eight months pregnant with you, a chain of- unfortunate events occurred. Your dad went out to Rochester to pick up some supplies for the Camp and while he was there, a huge forest fire broke out in North Kill. The town was completely cut off from surrounding areas for days."

He paused and dropped his voice down to a low whisper. "Our own property was surrounded by the fire as well…"

He felt Kaylee tense up beside him and he squeezed her arm in reassurance. "Every available fire fighter in town was out there, battling to contain the blaze. I was only a deputy officer back then and Sheriff Hank left me alone at the station to dispatch incoming calls for help while he and the rest of the force were out doing all they could to save those who were trapped in their homes by the flames. Many of the townsfolk had chosen to stay behind to try to save their properties."

Kaylee let out a shocked gasp. "No one ever told me there was a forest fire here. I can't even begin to imagine how terrifying it must have been to live through something like that..."

Travis gritted his teeth and nodded. "Yeah. It's not something I ever want to experience again and we've been fortunate not to get any big fires like that in our area since then."

He could feel his hands trembling involuntarily and he took a deep breath to steady his nerves before continuing to speak. "Bobby and Pa were out helping to fight the fires as well. Ma and Amelia stayed behind to try to protect our own property. Ma said that she tried to warn Amelia to take it easy in her condition. But Amelia was determined and insisted she would be fine. The fire was getting closer and closer to our home. Caleb was scared and Amelia was desperately trying to pacify him, while also filling buckets, containers- anything she could find with water to use against the fire."

Travis fought back a helpless sob. He remembered it like it had been yesterday. It had all happened such a long time ago, but talking about it brought back all the emotional anguish of that awful day. It made him feel physically sick now and he was finding it increasingly difficult to keep it together.

But he had to. For Kaylee's sake…

He took a shuddering breath and continued speaking, his eyes fixed at the ground in front of him as he focused on his footsteps. He didn't trust himself to look at Kaylee right now. He knew that what he was about to tell her would devastate her emotionally. But she needed to hear all of it...

"Through all that chaos and destruction, we were all operating on pure instinct. Your dad kept calling the station, desperately trying to get clearance to get back into town. But all available units were already out and I couldn't get in contact with the Sheriff. I was about to leave my post and drive out to pick him up myself, when I received a phone call from Ma. She said that Amelia had tripped on the stairs. She fallen over and was bleeding heavily."

Travis could feel his heart racing as though he were reliving the horrific incident again. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kaylee's step falter and he instinctively put out his arm to catch her before she fell. Kaylee gasped and reached for his hand to steady herself. Her knee had buckled beneath her and she had stumbled slightly.

"I'm okay. I'll be okay…" She whispered distractedly.

Travis loosened his grip on her hand and gave her a concerned look. He swallowed the lump of despair that had formed in his throat and tried to keep his voice steady. "I rushed home as fast as I could. When I arrived, Amelia was hysterical. There was blood all over the floor and she just kept repeating that we needed to save her baby. Caleb was huddled in the corner of the room, wailing. He was inconsolable and kept crying that he wanted his mother. I told Ma to stay with him while I drove Amelia to the hospital."

Travis paused when he heard Kaylee beginning to sob quietly. He put his arm around her and pulled her closer to him. Fighting back tears of his own, he continued speaking shakily. "When we arrived, we found out that the town's only midwife was unable to get to work because of the fires. There was only the doctor on duty; a young man named Jason O'Leary and one nurse. Both were as nervous as I felt when they realized just how serious Amelia's condition was."

Travis' voice cracked and he let out a desperate sob. "Kaylee, what I am about to tell you next, I've never spoken about to anyone. I was a broken man after that and have not been the same since…"

He took a shuddering breath and hugged her tighter as he spoke. "After he had examined her, the doctor informed us that they had to induce labor otherwise both you and Amelia might not have survived. Since there was only one nurse on duty at the time, he turned to me and said that I needed to help as well. I kept shaking my head and telling him that I couldn't do it. I couldn't do it…"

Travis could no longer contain his grief, nor did he care to fight it anymore. He felt hot tears streaming down his face and he didn't bother to wipe them away. Kaylee was crying as well. He could feel her hugging him more tightly as she buried her face into his shoulder and wept uncontrollably.

Travis tried his best to console her. "Amelia wouldn't hear of it. She grabbed my hand with an iron-like grip and in a frantic voice she said that if I ever felt anything for her, I had to help save her baby at any cost. I kept telling her that I couldn't. That I was so scared of losing her. But she was adamant. She assured me not to worry about her. We just needed to get the baby out before it was too late."

Travis held her close, rubbing her arm comfortingly as she cried into his shoulder. He kissed the top of her head and whispered gently to her. "You want to know what her exact words to me were?"

Kaylee closed her eyes and tried to steady her breathing. Although it was her uncle who was speaking to her, she thought she could hear her mother's voice in his words, as though she were speaking through him.

"Promise me Travis. Promise that you will take care of her for me."

Kaylee blinked and looked up at her uncle in amazement. Did she really just hear her mom speak to her in that moment?! Travis looked at her and smiled with adoration. When he spoke again, she heard that it was with his usual voice and she decided that she must have imagined it.

Travis felt a fresh wave of tears welling up in his eyes and he sighed wearily. "What happened next was hazy. I was there physically, but my mind and my spirit were somewhere else. Everything was a blur. After what seemed like an eternity, you were finally born. I remember coming to my senses when I heard you crying for the first time. The doctor told Amelia that the baby was a girl and she asked him to put you on her chest just for a moment. She kissed you gently on the forehead and called you her little ballerina. She said that she would always love you and watch over you."

"I will be the proudest mamma in heaven."

Kaylee inhaled sharply. There it was again! Her mom's voice! She didn't imagine it after all…

Travis gave a startled gasp. "You okay, honey? You're holding on a little tight there…"

Kaylee had been so surprised to hear her mom's voice that she hadn't realized that she had unintentionally squeezed Travis a bit too tightly around the ribs.

She released him from her hug and looked at him apologetically. "I'm sorry, uncle Travis. Yeah. I'm doing okay…"

Travis felt as though his heart was breaking all over again. He placed his hand on Kaylee's shoulder and spoke in a low whisper. "The doctor let your mom hold you until her strength started to fade away. Then he and the nurse took you away to get checked over and cleaned up."

He made a sound like a whimper and closed his eyes as more tears started running down his face. "I stayed with Amelia and held her hand. Through the hospital room window, we saw that the night sky was orange from the forest fire and the full moon looked blood red. A dark, smokey shadow passed in front of the moon and I heard Amelia's voice whisper to me weakly…"

"You see, Travis? Life is like that shadow that just passed over the moon. One moment we are here and then just like that shadow, we disappear forever."

Kaylee heard his words as though they were spoken by her mother's voice. She walked on in silence, tears flowing from her eyes as she listened with a heavy heart.

"I need you to do something for me, Travis. Tell Chris, Caleb and the others that I love them all dearly. Promise me that you'll tell Chris to name our precious little girl: Kaylee. I love her so much- more than anyone could know - even though I won't be there to watch her grow up…"

Travis let out a heartbroken sob, his eyes burning as he blinked away the tears. "I broke down and begged her not to say that. I told her that she needed to tell Chris herself. That her little girl and Caleb still needed her. We all needed her! I needed her…"

Kaylee took hold of his hand and squeezed it tightly. They were both overcome with grief, but she tried her best to offer him comfort as he went on speaking mournfully. "I told her that she had to fight. But Amelia just looked at me sadly and said that she couldn't. She was bleeding too heavily and she felt as though her life force was draining away."

"No one can help me anymore. Promise me that you will protect and love Kaylee for me."

Travis was struggling to catch his breath. The overwhelming sorrow he felt was making it hard to breathe. But he swallowed back his tears and continued. "All I could do was nod. I was too distraught to speak. I held her hand until she took her last breath. She was gone. I looked out the window at the blood-red moon and broke down. I've hated the full moon ever since that night."

As Travis finished speaking, he realized that they had almost reached the house. He could see his mother standing on the porch waiting for them with a broom in her hand. Kaylee was still holding his hand. Her eyes were puffy and her face was red from crying. Travis imagined that he didn't look any better. He hadn't cried like that since Amelia's death and a part of him was anxious about what his mother would think when she saw them in their current state. But another part of him didn't care at this point. He dropped his head and they walked towards the front door silently.

Constance waved the broom in their direction impatiently. "About fuckin' time you two show up! Do you have any idea what time it is…?"

She trailed off and didn't finish her sentence. As Travis and Kaylee got closer to her, she noticed that both of them were in tears and looked absolutely devastated.

"What the hell is that all about?" Constance wondered to herself tartly. But she knew that now wasn't the right time to question them about it. She turned around and walked quietly back into the house, leaving the door open behind her.