amaryllis_019-6e3.htm Page 17

  "They have no way of seeing or hearing this vessel. Not with their primitive detectors." Obviously finished with his adjustments he faced her. "We are stationary. Would you like to go down yet?"

  Melanie noticed a touch of diffidence in the question. "What time is it in Australia, I wonder? It would be best to go down while it’s dark. Wouldn’t you say?" Now the time had arrived she felt a distinct reluctance to return. She peered at her homeland, feeling disorientated. How many times had she seen that shape on maps and thought nothing of it. From here the continent seemed so large when compared to the other landmasses.

  He must have read her reluctance, but made no comment. "The darkness is just creeping over the horizon, you see." She nodded. Like a shroud the night approached. "By the time you don your strange Earth clothing and we ‘zap’ us down there, it will be almost night."

  She smiled at his use of her slang. "We don’t want to arrive in the middle of the night though, as I have to look up Pete Marchant. I can’t arrive at his front door too late. I haven’t got a key to my apartment." She had nothing from her old life. No bankcard, any other clothes than what she had come in. No toiletries. As she pulled her skirt and blouse on she realized she had no shoes.

  "I’ll have to go to my place to pick up the things I need first." Then it dawned on her. The old Melanie stood there, with short blonde hair and chubby figure. She groaned. The party was definitely over.

  "Keep your footwear on, Mel-aanie. They will not think it too strange, will they?" he asked and then went to the screen before she could answer. "Here is a map of your city. You must show me where we must set down, and I will work out the logistics."

  Melanie studied the map. Reve had honed in on Sydney and showed her how to pinpoint the area where her apartment was, then the street, and the exact location of her apartment. "Can we get inside, Reve?" He adjusted the reading.

  "Of course." He took her hands to say gravely, "I will not be visible to you or anyone, Mel-aanie, while we are on your planet. But I will be with you all the time."

  "All the time, Reve? Promise me you’ll not leave me alone for a moment." A tremor raced through her. Now that the time had come, she was scared to her toes. Petrified of finding out what had happened since her abrupt departure. It was too late to turn around now though. They had come this far. They must see it through to the bitter end. "I will remain with you until you tell me to leave. And do not forget, we must get your mission completed within a night and a day, Mel-aanie."

  "Of course I wouldn’t forget something so important. I would not endanger your life. You know that." She inhaled deeply. A night and a day. So little time with him.

  "It was your choice," he reminded her solemnly.

  So it was. No use having second thoughts at this late stage. She drew herself up tall. "Right, let’s do it, partner." Her tone was stoic.

  "But first I must have a kiss--perhaps the last one we will share." Before she had a chance to take in his words his mouth was on hers, transporting her to the special place where only the two of them could ever go--the place as close to ecstasy she would ever know.

  ~ * ~

  "Open your eyes, Mel-aanie," Reve whispered, and she knew he had spoken the words in her head.

  As she obeyed, she gasped, for she was inside an apartment bearing a similarity to hers on Earth, but one furnished differently.

  "This is the wrong one," she told him, also silently, glancing about. Reve gave her the address she’d told him earlier. "I don’t know, Reve. Somehow we’ve zapped down into another apartment. Perhaps it’s similar in plan to my old one, this is why we’ve got it mixed up."

  "No. It is the address you gave me in the craft, Mel-aanie. There is no mistake. Look closely."

  She looked about. As she peered up she saw the crack in the light fitting over her head. Reve was right. They were definitely in the bedroom she had shared with Chris. The agent had refused point blank to replace the fitting. Chris had grown annoyed and despite her arguments, refused to buy a new one.

  Music and talking came through the thin walls from the room next door. The TV was obviously on and two people were discussing the merits of the musician who played.

  "Come, we will go outside. Then you can make inquiries as to why someone else is occupying your former home." Before she could answer she found he had transported her to the hallway outside the front door of the apartment. Would she ever get used to this dematerializing business?

  "One gets used to almost everything in time," he said.

  Melanie scowled about her. "I guess so," she agreed. Its flooring scuffed and worn, the hallway looked so dingy and cluttered. How had she ever thought it was a nice place to live? "I have to tell you this is weird, Reve. I wish I could see you."

  "You can feel me, can you not?" He kissed her neck and she stifled a laugh as she swatted at him. Yes, she could feel him. He caught her hand and pressed his lips to it.

  Peering at the name above the bell, she saw that a Mr. and Mrs. Sharp now lived here. Melanie rang the bell. After a lengthy pause when she thought she was going to be ignored, a middle-aged man answered her summons.

  "Yes?" He gave her a look filled with suspicion and his eyes slitted as he let them rove over her insolently.

  "Um, I was wondering if you could tell me anything about the woman who lived her before you," she said, feeling very odd, and somewhat self-conscious.

  In his right hand he toted a half-full bottle of beer. With his other hand he scratched at his potbelly. He had no shirt on, and his navy blue singlet was torn down one side. The shorts he wore looked as if he’d slept in them for a week.

  "You mean that Melanie Ross person?" His bloodshot eyes roved up and down her body again, making Melanie feel naked. She stifled a rude retort as she stepped back a pace, and came up against Reve’s solid, though silent presence.

  "He seems to think he has met you before," Reve said.

  She nodded. "Yes, Melanie Ross."

  "Hmm." He glanced about furtively. "She disappeared. Her husband got his-self killed, then soon after she just vanished without a trace, so they say. Just like that." He snapped his fingers. He had spoken in a low voice with the air of a man divulging information of the highest importance. "We only came up from Victoria after all the hullabaloo died down, but that’s what the people next door told us. Perhaps they can give you some more info. I’d say she got herself bumped off just like her hubby." Licking his thick lips, he seemed to relish the idea.

  "Thank you. Sorry to have troubled you." Melanie frowned as he shut the door. She heard his rough report as he explained what she’d wanted to his wife inside.

  "Are you going to inquire of your neighbors?" Reve asked.

  Melanie hesitated. She’d never had a lot to do with any of the other inhabitants of the block of apartments. What would happen if the elderly woman who lived next door had a heart attack at the sight of her turning up after all these months. No, it wouldn’t be wise. And she doubted the neighbors could tell her a lot.

  "No, I think I’ll go and see Pete, Chris’s partner," she decided. "He’ll be able to tell me a lot more than anyone else. I feel very strange, Reve." She ran a hand across her nape. She was perspiring freely, although it was quite cool in the hallway.

  "Strange as in sick? Or strange because you are returning to your home to find it all changed and occupied by strangers?" he asked. There was a note of sympathy in his voice.

  "A bit of both, I think. I feel dizzy, and a little disorientated. As if I’m not really here, but living a dream." She gave herself a mental shake. "How will we get to Pete’s home? I have no money for a taxi."

  "Foolish question. Concentrate on the address and location and I will do my best to ‘zap’ us there, Mel-aanie," he said with a soft chuckle. It vibrated down to her toes.

  Although she couldn’t see him, she was intensely aware of him. It felt almost as if he was inside her.

  "Not so, but I would like to be," he whispered, feathering a kiss over her
lips.

  "Behave," she admonished as she closed her eyes, picturing Pete’s house and where it stood, about a twenty minutes walk away from here.

  ~ * ~

  When she opened her eyes, she wasn’t surprised to find she stood on the porch of Pete’s Victorian-style home. Light filtered through the lead glass panels in the top half of the entrance door.

  "You never cease to amaze me," she said, and he chuckled again, his breath a warm caress on her ear.

  "I know many other tricks that would amaze you more, my sweet one. Come back to Amaryllis with me, and I will never stop teaching you."

  "I think there’s little else I could learn from you," she said breathily. He had already taught her more than she thought it possible to know about the senses, and the wondrous pleasures to be found in sharing one’s body with another intimately.

  "We have only scratched the surface," he growled.

  "You have a one track mind, Reve," she told him tartly, feeling a tingle up and down her spine as his fingers traced an erotic path from her shoulder to her hip.

  "Someone is coming," he interrupted her heated thoughts, brushing a hand over her nape.

  Pete’s wife must have pressed her face to the spy-hole in the wooden panel of the door, for Melanie could just make out her shape on the other side.

  Shock clearly registered on Lucy’s face when she slid back the bolt and pulled the door wide. "Melanie! My God, we thought you were dead too. Where have you been? Come in."

  With her hand on Melanie’s arm, Lucy almost dragged her across the threshold. After glancing up and down the deserted street, Lucy closed the door and then bolted it. "They said you’d disappeared without a trace."

  "They?"

  "The police. We all thought you were at the bottom of the bay. It’s so good to see you." With a small sob she dragged Melanie close, hugging her so tightly she could barely breath.

  Melanie was more than surprised. In fact Lucy shocked her by this display of affection. They hadn’t been the closest of friends by any means, and had only mixed in the same circles because of their husbands being partners in the force. They’d gone to barbecues with the same crowd and had the occasional dinner in a group. Lucy was behaving as if Melanie was a long lost friend.

  "It’s a long story, Lucy, one I don’t have time at the moment to relate," she said. "I did disappear, after a fashion. They were out to kill me, and I thought it best to clear out for a while. I could tell you a thing or two but it would shock you too much, and you would probably find it hard to swallow."

  "I don’t understand." Lucy looked as puzzled as she sounded.

  "Where’s Pete? Can I talk to him?" Pain distorted Lucy’s face. "No!" she cried. Not Pete too!

  "Yes." Lucy nodded, her lips trembling. "Come inside." With a hand on Melanie’s arm she led them into the living room. It was comfortably furnished and gave off a false impression of welcome homeliness. Once it had been a place filled with happiness and contentment. Not any more.

  "Mummy, who’s the lady?" Sammy, their six-year-old son asked, pouting as he gave Melanie a suspicious look.

  Lucy gestured for Melanie to sit on the couch. "It’s a friend, Sam. Be a good boy and run along and play with Stephie for a while so we can have a chat, all right?" With her hand on his small back she propelled him from the room. He went with a reluctant look over his shoulder.

  "What happened?" Melanie asked as soon as they were alone. Dread coiled along her spine. She felt Reve’s soft reassuring touch on her hand.

  "Melanie, it was the worst time of my life I can tell you." Lucy gave a shuddery sigh. "After you disappeared without a trace, so it seemed, Pete went to your apartment with the other cops. He managed to get hold of the letter Chris wrote." She visibly shuddered and wiped her hand over her eyes. "How I wish he hadn’t. If he’d left things alone, it might have all come out in the open. Instead…" Her voice lowered. "Pederman and two of his henchmen came here the next night." She let out a sob, and then took a few deep breaths in an effort to control herself. There was a tremor in her voice as she continued, "He threatened Pete, said the kids and me would suffer if he didn’t keep his mouth shut. Poor Pete was in such a quandary. We talked and talked for hours. He thought they’d taken you. How could he let these morons carry on killing people and ruining the lives of so many young people with their drugs?" She wiped at her damp eyes with a screwed up hankie.

  "So, what did he end up doing, Lucy?" Melanie put her hand over one of Lucy’s, and she attempted a smile.

  "He ended up getting himself killed, same as Chris--the bloody idiot," she wailed. "He wouldn’t show the letter to his superiors. He told me he couldn’t risk the kid’s lives, or mine. But they killed him anyway. The bastards!"

  "Oh Lucy!" Melanie got up and paced about. "Look, I’ll get even. Pederman and his lot will pay, don’t worry."

  As Melanie sat down again, Lucy looked as if Melanie had gone insane. Who could blame Lucy?

  "You? What on earth can you do? The police couldn’t bring him to justice, couldn’t pin one thing on him, so what do you expect to do? A woman alone."

  "I’m not exactly alone, Lucy."

  "You’re not? But who…?"

  "I have a powerful ally, believe me." Melanie gave her hand a reassuring pat. "This is part of the story I can’t tell you. But one thing I can tell you, Pederman, his cronies and any accomplices he has will be destroyed. And that’s a promise."

  Lucy’s head went back and forth, her mouth agape. "I don’t see…"

  "Trust me," Melanie urged, asking, "How are you and the kids for money?"

  "We get by." Lucy shrugged and sniffed. "Pete’s pension covers most of our bills. Where are you living now, Mel? You can stay here with us, you know, if you have nowhere else to go."

  "Thanks. I may take you up on the offer. At the moment I haven’t decided on my future." Melanie felt a rush of Reve’s displeasure wash over her. "What happened to all my stuff by the way? Where’s my furniture, household goods, and clothes?"

  "As far as I know it’s all still in storage. Your apartment was re-let a little while ago, and the police are holding your personal effects, such as money, bank account etc. You had Chris’s pension, so you won’t be short of cash. Are you going to let them know you’ve come back?" Lucy looked terrified again.

  Melanie shook her head. "Not yet." She rose. "I have to go now. But whatever you do, don’t worry. Everything will be sorted out. You can be sure of that. And Lucy, I’m so dreadfully sorry about Pete." Should she tell her she’d doubted him for a while? No, some things are best left unsaid. It was obvious Pederman had made sure Pete didn’t get help to her in time.

  "I’ll be in touch...to let you know what I’m doing with my future." Melanie grasped Lucy’s hand. The woman looked so forlorn Melanie had an urge to comfort her. But what could she do? Apart from taking revenge for Pete and Chris’s deaths.

  "Take care," Lucy said in a sad little voice.

  "I will. Is Pederman still around?" Melanie shuddered just at the mention of the monster’s name.

  "Of course." Lucy’s gentle mouth curled in a sneer. "The evil people of this world seem to flourish. Good men like ours always suffer." She hesitated. "How are you managing without Chris?"

  Melanie thought of telling Lucy she’d found someone who’d pushed all thoughts of her dead husband from her mind, but Reve’s ego was already large enough. His presence was all around her and he’d picked up her thoughts. For a brief moment she felt guilty; it was indecent to be feeling this way. But so much had come between her time with Chris and the woman she was now. He had drifted to a deep corner of her mind and heart. Replaced by the Amaryllisan who at this moment was touching that mind, reassuring her it was right to feel this way. Chris belonged to the past, and the past could not be resurrected.

  "I manage. I’ll say goodbye now. If you don’t hear from me, Lucy, don’t worry. It means I’ve decided to take up the other option open to me."

  They embraced, and
Melanie left Lucy standing on her step, watching her as she walked away.

  Sixteen

  "We’ll have to find Pederman," Melanie said as soon as she turned the corner. "The only way I can think to draw him out is to present myself at the local station, identify myself to the police and come up with a feasible story to explain my long absence."

  "You could say you were taken to a lonely spot and left to fend for yourself," Reve suggested. "You lost your memory and were taken in by people who nursed you back to health."

  "Not bad. Are you sure you haven’t been watching late night TV?" She gave a small laugh as he nudged her. "But your story has holes so big they would never take it in. If I was taken to a lonely spot, I’d have been murdered and they know it."

  A couple of scruffily dressed men sauntered by, hands in their pockets. They eyed Melanie as they hesitated. She hurried on and then looked over her shoulder to make sure she wasn’t being followed. The last thing she needed was to be attacked.

  "Those deviates thought you were offering your body," Reve said in a disgusted tone and she laughed.

  "What about if I say Pederman’s muggers took me out to the bush to do me in, but I escaped and was taken in by a group of Aborigines." She sighed. "Oh God, the cops are going to find any story hard to swallow, how about I tell them the truth. I was taken to another planet to escape people who were set on killing me."

  "I was taught to always speak the truth." There was a smile in his voice.

  "Yeah." Melanie jabbed him lightly with an elbow and hit solid muscle. "Come on, let’s get to the station and show myself. I’ll think of something on the way."

  ~ * ~

  It was surprisingly easy, Melanie thought, as she walked from the station, the personal possessions she could carry safely tucked in her handbag.

  The officer in charge had recognized her instantly. His shock had been apparent, his eyes bulging. Intent on keeping her reappearance as quiet as possible, an idea she agreed with wholeheartedly, he had shuffled her into an interview room. The last thing she needed was having the press following her about for a story on what she’d been doing the past months.