[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.He reached out his hand, and a desire so overwhelmingly powerful convinced her to take it.His touch burned her fingers.The wind began to roar.She'd done something wrong, something terribly wrong.But she didn't understand.There were suddenly voices and faces and fear."No," she screamed, feeling the angry spirits surround her.They wouldn't listen.They were coming for her.And she suddenly knew why.Betrayal.Faith blinked her eyes open and sat up, her heart pounding, her hands sweaty, her chest heaving with the nightmarish daydream.She reached for the pillows on the couch and pulled them to her.Even though the evening was warm, she grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around her.She was cold.She was scared.And she was alone.What was happening to her? She'd always had an imagination.In fact, it had kept her going through the long, lonely nights of her childhood.But now her mind was traveling a different path, and she seemed to have no will to stop it.Since she'd touched the pottery, she'd felt electricity running through her, as if she were a conduit to some secret past.But she didn't want to know their secrets.Didn't want to feel their pain.Someone had been hurt -- a man and a woman.Julian and Suzannah? Somehow she didn't think so.The pain seemed deeper, darker, older.The doorbell rang, and she started in alarm, suddenly filled with the panicked thought that the spirits had come for her.Silly.There were no spirits, no ghosts.She took a deep breath and walked over to the door."Who is it?" she asked."Ben."She opened the door with relief, pleased to see his warm brown eyes, his friendly face."Oh, Ben." She hugged him, and he squeezed her back."Does this mean your answer is yes?"* * *"May I come in?" Alex asked, standing at the doorway to his grandfather's bedroom."Yes." Julian waved him into the room, without looking up, his eyes focused on the letter in his hand.Alex waited for a moment taking the time to look around his guest room.He had furnished it sparsely with a double bed covered by a forest green comforter that matched the green rug and the green curtains at the window.There was an oak chest of drawers in one corner and a small writing desk against the wall.A window seat brightened by the late afternoon light looked so inviting he walked over and sat down.He rarely came into this room.And he rarely had guests.He'd always preferred his privacy.Sometimes he wondered why he'd even bought this luxury condo with its three bedrooms and large living room/dining room.It wasn't as if he needed the space.He'd just needed the look of being successful.His gaze turned to his grandfather, whose white hair was in complete disarray.A pair of reading glasses slid halfway down his nose and his hand shook slightly as he slowly lowered the letter to the bed."What's all that?" Alex asked, pointing to the packet of letters."My letters from Suzannah."Alex raised an eyebrow.He'd never known there were letters.Never once while telling the story of the curse had Julian shared that piece of information."She wrote to you?""I thought I'd told you about the letters.""No, you didn't." Alex cleared his throat."Look, Grandfather, we need to talk." And the last thing he wanted to talk about was the infamous Suzannah.Julian removed his glasses.He rubbed his eyes, then returned the glasses to his face."I suppose we do, but first, I want you to listen." Julian picked up the letter, took a deep breath, and began to read.We must meet in Arizona this summer, Julian.I have been learning about the historic sites of the ancient Anasazi, and I am eager to see where they really lived.I know there must be a wonderful world out there, and I long to see it.Did I tell you that my great-grandmother was born in Arizona? Before she died she told me so much about the desert, the deep canyons, the blue sky, the vast silence, the mystical sense of a past filled with people who danced with the spirits.I think I must be like the spirits, Julian.No one understands me here.Since my parents died, I am all alone.My great-aunt is so stern.She goes to church every day to pray for my soul and makes me pray for forgiveness every night before I go to bed.She doesn't like my clothes.She doesn't like the way I talk, and she hates it when I dance.Perhaps I am truly wicked, Julian, for I can't stop dreaming about you.I long for you in ways that I know must be wrong.I have your picture hidden beneath my pillow and your letters are locked in a box in my closet.I know if my aunt found them, she would make me stop writing you.But I can't do that.You mean so much to me.Please say you will meet me this summer.I must see you in the flesh.I must know if our love is as real as it feels to me.Julian's voice trembled on the last word and he once again removed his glasses and wiped his eyes."How wrong she was to invite me."Alex didn't know what to say or do.He felt uncomfortable with such a display of emotion, and deep down, a bit jealous that his grandfather had experienced a love that still moved him.Then he reminded himself that his grandfather had gone on to find equal happiness with five other women.So much for everlasting love.It didn't exist.And this search for Suzannah was born of sentiment and a yearning to recapture a youth forever lost."You don't understand." Julian watched Alex with a perceptive gaze that was now free of tears."How could I expect you to -- with the curse of the Carrigans marked on your brow?""Last time I looked, my forehead was free of any marks, Grandfather.""You're so literal, Alex.Do you never look beyond the surface?""What's the point? If people don't say what they mean, why should I dig deeper? And frankly, this sudden yearning for a lost love seems rather ridiculous.You had plenty of time to find this woman -- if you really wanted to."Julian's gaze turned troubled."You're right.I suppose a part of me was afraid of finding her again.I wanted to know what happened to her, and at the same time I didn't.I was terrified that my actions had brought the curse into her life.It was easier not to know.It was easier to live with the ignorance than with the truth.""She probably married someone else and lived happily ever after." Alex refused to let his grandfather's passionate words touch him again."And if you were afraid to find her before, why now -- when it's far too late to change what happened? Why add more stress to your life when you should be relaxing, taking things easy, planning for a comfortable future? We should be looking for condos.""Because you want me out of your way," Julian said flatly, his voice no longer filled with emotion.Alex felt more comfortable with this response.This was the grandfather he knew, the one who was too busy to let a little boy mess around with his costumes or his paints, the one who got married every other year and spent more time with other people's families than with his own.This was the man who had never remembered Alex's birthday but couldn't seem to forget a woman he'd known for a few short months more than fifty years ago."I don't blame you really," Julian said."I suppose it's what I deserve.Your grandmother always said we reap what we sow."His grandmother, Bess.Alex hadn't thought of her in years
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]