Читать книгу Image Carriers - Genel Anthony - Страница 6

Covert meetings are held at his place…

The next day, they arrived outside the address Tom had given Adam. Joey and Adam looked at each other in hesitation. They were parked outside a mansion with ten- foot tall iron gates, surrounded by huge sandstone blocks forming a tight wall going all the way down the road where huge trees shadowed the ground and hung wildly over the wall, that continued out of sight around the corner.

They were in an exclusive suburb of Sydney, and expensive cars adorned the surrounding area. Even the birds flying around, looked as if they had money. Manicured gardens glistened in the mid-morning sunlight, as a shiny sports car reversed out of a neighbour’s driveway. They couldn’t see its occupants, as the windows had a jet-black tint.

Joey had noticed that there was an intercom on the wall and jumped out of the car. Adam followed quickly, and they both stood quietly, self-consciously, because upon closer observation, they witnessed a camera looking directly at them. Adam pressed the black button marked “Call.” A moment later, the intercom crackled to life.

“Hello, how may I help you?”

“Yes, it’s Adam here! I am looking for a Mr Garrett, a Thomas. Tom?” He spoke clearly into what looked like the receiver.

“Come through,” was the friendly response. They heard what sounded like a mechanical click and then the huge gates slowly opened.

They both jumped into the car and drove into the secluded property. The slate road wound towards the mansion, and as they drove up to the large house, Adam noticed luscious gardens and superb lawns running all the way down towards the neighbouring walls. Massive old trees grew happily along the perimeter walls. Newly laid garden beds seemed to spring out of the ground like magic, obviously carefully planned and organised well in advance. The flowers looked too good to be real and almost surreal.

They pulled up in front of what looked like the front door and parked under the extended roof. They were now shaded from the sun. Little purple and white flowers wound their way around the two pillars holding the outer roof up. Adam admired their sweet and fragrant tang, while Joey jumped out of the car and began walking towards the big heavy doors, when one of the doors suddenly opened. An elderly man with a balding head of short silver hair greeted them.

“Ah! At last! Come in! Come in!” He said excitedly, not seeming to worry that there were two guests rather than just Adam. After all, Tom was only expecting Adam to arrive.

They entered a grand hallway with fitted wooden cupboards. The floor was also timber. Adam couldn’t help thinking of his old school. He remembered the foyer, near the principal’s office, which somehow resembled Tom’s hallway. It must have been the teak wood and gravy- stained wooden railings leading upwards to the next level. Even the staircase reminded him of his childhood days racing up and down the stairs as he changed classes.

Tom led them alongside the staircase, and they entered a large musty-smelling room to the left. It resembled a drawing room or lounge room. It was spacious and had two large windows looking towards the gardens. Two mantelpieces with marble surrounding the large fireplace caught Adam’s eye immediately as he entered the opulent room. One of the walls was covered in books, stacked from top to the bottom, neatly arranged on a wooden bookshelf that looked as if it was purposely built into the wall. The two large windows facing east only let a quarter of the morning sun stream through, as the heavy drapes hung effortlessly, pulled up slightly, only allowing a small peek outside. “Nice house,” Joey said as they came to a stop.

“Tom, this is my friend, Joey.” Adam quickly introduced Joey, as Tom had turned around momentarily and seemed to study Joey. Adam knew instinctively that Joey was scanning, Tom, too.

“Very pleased to meet you, young man,” was Tom’s welcoming response. “So tell me something,” Tom continued as he began pulling up some chairs. “What is the relationship between the two of you?” The question took Adam by surprise, as he was not expecting such a question, and before he could think of a response, he heard Joey ask Tom if he owned the house and if anyone else lived in the house.

“Yes, my young friend, and no, only I live here.” Tom muttered as he gestured for them to sit down. “Okay, everyone comfortable? Anyone wants a beverage or something?” Both visitors shook their heads.

Surprised at Joey’s direct and personal question to Tom, Adam quickly thought he’d change the subject and went back to Tom’s earlier question. “Tom, I hope you don’t mind me bringing my friend with as he sometimes helps me with my work.” Adam then gave Joey a stern look.

“Oh, that is fine, don’t worry about it. You know what, I think you did the right thing, Adam.”

Joey sat quietly observing Tom and quickly looked away when Tom peered in his direction.

“So what is this all about?” Adam said, grabbing Tom’s attention.

“Are you sure you both are comfortable?” Tom said, rubbing his hands together, seeming to delay what he wanted to tell them.

“I’m fine.”

“Me too,” Joey announced in the corner. Joey sat a little further from the two men, as he purposely pulled his chair away when they first sat down. Tom had pulled chairs together, forming a little circle of sorts.

“Okay.” Tom whispered, looking down and suddenly worried. “I am a bit anxious, to say the least. Please bear with me. I was fine all the time and now, now having you gentlemen over, right here in my house, well, I feel quite overwhelmed with what I am about to tell you.”

Joey sat forward to hear what Tom was about to say. He also couldn’t help noticing that Tom was acting a little strangely. He wondered if Tom was a little senile or perhaps had lost the plot in some way. He also looked bored; maybe he was just lonely and wanted some guests.

“Sounds pretty important,” Adam responded, making small talk and wondering where all this was heading.

But Tom was silent. He seemed to be miles away.

“Sorry Tom, but can you get to the point, I don’t want to be pushy, but I am just aware of the time. I actually have a client soon and we need to leave shortly.” Adam had to say something as Tom was stalling. Adam also had no clients booked later as he was on a week’s break, but used this excuse to put weight behind his comment.

“Sure, Sure,” Tom fumbled, looking even more anxious as the minutes ticked away. He suddenly looked grey and sickly, his eyes misty. “Deep breath,” he said softly to himself and then clapped his hands and sat up, looking more confident as the colour appeared to come back to his pale blue cheeks. “Okay. Here goes. Now this may sound ridiculous, but I am telling you the truth.” Joey and Adam nodded simultaneously as Adam sat forward in his seat.

Tom informed them that he belongs to group of clandestine people who possess paranormal abilities, and their mission is to help people and themselves. These people are special people, and they seem to know many important and spiritual things. He told them that he had been involved with them for over twenty years and had taken on the role of an Overseer, someone who organises meetings and get- togethers. He finances some of their activities and vice versa. Covert meetings are held at his home, and they discuss their premonitions and other mystical information and compare their dreams and notes with one another. He stated that there are groups similar to his all around the world, and that he had already made contact with many of them in Europe and America and elsewhere.

“What do you mean?” Adam found himself asking. “About what,” Tom looked confused.

“I mean, why are you telling us this?”

“Oh,” Tom chuckled to himself, “I just thought that you may be interested in groups of that nature.”

He sat back in his chair and studied Adam before looking over towards Joey. Adam smiled and realised that Tom was probably expecting him to be more up to date with the topic or perhaps more enthusiastic. After all, he did advertise looking for psychic people.

“So who are these people and how did you meet

them?” Adam thought he’d better say something and play along.

“Very special people,” Tom said, sitting forward

again. “You know it is a genes thing, don’t you?” He added. “A genes thing,” Adam repeated.

“Yes,” Tom said, “it’s handed down from family member to the next and so on. Some people are born with it and others are not.” He paused and looked down for a moment before completing his sentence. “Some of them actually shun their gift, calling it a curse, of sorts,” Tom said, expecting a reaction from Adam. But there was none.

Adam knew about some psychic people shunning their abilities so it didn’t come to him as a big surprise as Tom may have been hoping.

“So why are you telling us this?” Joey finally spoke.

Tom turned towards Joey and then faced Adam and slowly mumbled something about something getting worse.

“Worse? What do you mean?” Adam looked restless.

“We had a meeting here last month, and they told me that things are beginning to heat up. Most want to go into hiding, but they feel that they can’t. They need to expose what they are picking up.” Tom looked hard at Adam as if searching for something. He then cast his eyes downwards.

Adam looked over at Joey, and they both silently acknowledged each other in a way indicating that it was time to leave.

“Tom?” Adam called out, feeling a little uncomfortable. Tom jumped back to life.

“Yes! Sorry! Where was I. Oh, yes, something big is going to happen. It seems that lots of people are going to die.”

“Die,” Adam asked calmly, as he was now more confused than ever.

“Yes, die. And not just die of natural causes, but killed somehow in the millions! Our people are picking this up! And not only our group of image carriers, but most of them around the world!” Tom said, then waited for a reaction from Adam, but there was none. He then added. “They can pick things up, and we interpret their symbolic messages and collect data, and so far, all arrows are pointing in the same damned direction–millions of people, dead!”

As they drove home, Adam couldn’t stop thinking about Tom. Somehow this old man struck a chord deep within in him. Although his story was far-fetched, Adam still felt that there may be some truth in what the old man was saying. He also couldn’t help thinking that perhaps Tom was crying out for something else. Was he pulling at Adam’s counselling strings? Meanwhile, Joey sat quietly in the passenger seat as they drove home. In fact, he was very quiet. Adam pulled up at a set of lights and looked over at his young friend. “Everything okay?” he asked quietly. Joey forced a half-smile and nodded, gesturing that the lights had changed. He was indeed very quiet and seemed to have something on his mind.

They arrived back at their place, and Joey walked ahead and grabbed a drink out of the fridge. He fell into the lounge chair. “Well, what you reckon about old Tommy?” he asked while sipping on his drink.

“Strange old man,” Adam responded. “I think he’s just lonely and wants someone to talk to. Did you see that picture of the lady on the table? He kept looking at her all the time. It must be a picture of his wife in her younger days or someone else. He seems so sad and lost”

“Yeah, but what do you reckon?” Joey insisted.

“Reckon about what?” Adam answered, as he sat down. “Do you think he is on to something?”

“I think he is on to something, but I don’t think it has anything to do with my investigations. I think he heard about my research and he wants to be involved. You get people like that.”

Adam got up and walked over to the kitchen and poured some water. Joey followed him.

Adam continued: “He seems to be grieving or he is depressed. He probably needs to get some counselling.” Adam turned to Joey, who was rubbing his drink can between his hands and asked him if he had picked up on anything from Tom.

“Not much. I couldn’t really read or scan him. I did pick up that the lady in the picture is dead, his daughter or wife– some relation. Also, that there are meetings held there. The people that go there are like me… I felt them.”

Joey seemed different since their meeting with Tom. He seemed to feel that there was more to Tom’s story than what he told them. Joey also felt a strong urge to be involved with Tom, as he had sensed similar people to himself, and he secretly wondered what they would be like. Like Adam, Joey was mesmerised by the strange old man that lived in a mansion and talked about people with magical insights.

Young Joey was always a loner, since he was a child. He became very different from other boys as he grew older, and many of his friends had moved on from him, and he from them, because of their differences in terms of interests and activities. Now that he was growing older and becoming a young man, Joey wanted to know more about himself and others like him. It was Joey who persuaded Adam to continue with their meetings with Tom, as the old man appeared to be harbouring many secrets.

The week’s break from work came and went, and Adam’s focus was now on getting back to work and figuring out what his next step was going to be. He also hoped that the media would stop harassing them. Carol greeted Adam happily as he arrived at work on Monday morning. The break seemed to work wonders, as she looked young again and refreshed.

“Glad to be back at work,” she said excitedly.

“Me or you,” Adam asked in a sarcastic voice, giving a half- smile.

“Me!” she smiled in return. “How’s your break been? Do anything special?”

“My time off work was well worth it,” Adam replied, grabbing his mail and some paperwork. “Just relaxed and did nothing.”

Adam had just gone into his office and looked over his work when he heard some commotion out in reception. He heard Joey’s voice stirring Carol. The two always argued in a friendly way. Joey was teasing Carol as usual; in fact, Joey liked teasing everybody. The door swung open and Joey walked in smiling, looking like the proverbial cat that swallowed the canary.

“What are you doing here?” Adam asked, looking suspicious.

“Can’t I visit you without asking all these questions,” he said, jumping on the counselling sofa. He closed his eyes as if he was going to sleep. Adam watched him for a few seconds and knew he was up to his old tricks. Joey still thought that he could pull the wool over Adam’s eyes, but Adam would allow him to think that only on occasions.

“Okay, Joey, you win, I give up, what’s this all about?” Adam said in a playful voice. Joey pretended that he was sleeping and started snoring in an exaggerated way.

Adam then pretended that one of his clients had arrived and said, “Hello Mrs. Burger, is that the time already…”

Joey jumped up looking at the doorway. Adam laughed out loud and Joey, in turn, gave him the evil eye.

“What do you want Joey,” Adam asked again, getting a little impatient.

“I was thinking that we need to see old Uncle Tom,” he said. “Why?”

“There’s something not right. I want to go over again and maybe I will pick up more,” Joey said. “I think I believe him; I think our Uncle Tom is on to something.”

Adam received an email from Carol advising that his client has finally arrived.

Joey stood up as Evelyn, an ex-client of Adam’s walked in. Evelyn also knew Joey very well and didn’t have the patience to tolerate his irritating behaviours at times, and was quick to dismiss him. Joey smiled at her and immediately began carrying on with his body language by bowing and trying to distress her, knowing very well that he was irritating her. But Evelyn stood her ground, moving towards Adam and ignoring Joey completely. She then muttered for Joey to leave the room.

Evelyn, as they came to know, had a tendency to involve herself with silly things, such as ordering something by mail and then not knowing what to do with the item once it was delivered. She would then offer it to either Adam or Carol, as they were her only friends. On this occasion, she wanted to use Adams office address for her mail to be delivered. She was using a post office box before, but fell out with the postal manager over the annual cost and promptly cancelled her dealings with them. Adam was reluctant to allow this, but ended up agreeing that it could be a temporary measure, and that she should use her own address or find another post box.

Evelyn is an Image Carrier. She can see things others can’t. Adam believes she is very unique and rates in the middle to high numbers of the Image Carriers’ rating scale. Unfortunately, or fortunately for Evelyn, she shuns her gift and wants nothing to do with it. She told Adam that it scares her and all she wants to do is live a normal life. It is ironic, as Evelyn lives far from a normal life. Her life is a total secret, and nobody knows what she gets up to during the day. She doesn’t work or socialise much. She is a loner. Not long ago, Evelyn got quite upset with Carol when Carol offered to give her some money to get her hair cut, however, Evelyn told Carol to keep her charity to herself as she has her own money.

Today’s visit with Adam was a long time coming. Evelyn wanted to talk to Adam about feeling overwhelmed again. Periodically, Evelyn becomes distressed and panic builds. Paranoia has also crept into Evelyn’s life. She told Adam that she thinks someone is following her or is trying to find out where she lives. Adam had to reassure her that it was her negative thinking and anxiety causing her to become paranoid, and that she should use the coping techniques she learned all those years ago in counselling.

Evelyn sat down and peered over at the door, ensuring that it was closed. Not satisfied, she jumped up and went over to the door and locked it from the inside. Evelyn did this now and again, and Adam knew that she must be feeling very tense and anxious, as she behaved this way when she felt worried.

“Okay, Evelyn,” Adam started the conversation as she resumed her seat. “Tell me slowly what’s happening in your life right now.”

“Something is wrong. I feel death around me. I can feel it. I can sense it. My dreams are starting up again, bad dreams.” Evelyn talked this way when she was in this state of mind. She could be very abrupt and had no time for social chit-chat or filling in her sentences with warmer tones. Evelyn came across cold to many. People tended to avoid her, and she shunned them. But she liked Adam and sometimes Carol. Adam came to realise that there was something special about Evelyn, and he couldn’t help liking her too. He also had patience for the woman because she was dreadfully lonely and avoided people, however, she felt safe with Adam and Carol and they seemed to be her only contact with people. Adam had told her that she was always welcome to visit the office when she needed a chat.

“Deep breath,” Adam sounded the words out slowly, as if he was deep breathing himself. “First, what do you think is wrong?”

“I dunno! I can feel it, something is wrong,” Evelyn said, looking impatient. She kept looking back at the door and the window. “Even my dreams are all… so clear…” She stopped talking and looked even more distressed.

“Okay? Tell me why you feel something is wrong,” Adam repeated himself.

“Something big is going to happen. In my dreams, well, uh, I am dreaming the same sort of dream.” She looked down, trying to recollect her thoughts or trying to put words to her dreams. She continued, “I sense death, lots of lies, I dunno what I am feeling anymore! I hate these feelings. It’s all around me,” she said, becoming surprisingly calmer as she finished her sentence.

“Are you dreaming these things?” Adam asked.

“Yes, in dreams, and sometimes images just come to me when I am minding my own business. I can’t control them!” She paused, then said, “And remember Adam, you can’t tell anyone about this.”

Evelyn always ended her sentences with this comment, then working herself up and becoming very dramatic, before returning to a contented state of mind. She had these emotional outbursts from time to time. These mood swings seem to only happen when she was distraught about something, however Adam has not seen this behaviour in Evelyn for a very long time.

They talked for nearly one-and-a-half hours, and Adam tried many approaches to calm Evelyn and reassure her. She talked about her dreams and was convinced that they were messages especially for her. Evelyn felt that many people will die and that she could possibly be one of them. She likened it to mass murder of people, similar to an extermination of sorts. But unlike former atrocities, this wave of death brought upon the masses is something entirely new, and never seen before.

After Evelyn left Adam’s rooms, Adam couldn’t help feeling for her. She really believed what she was saying, and Adam found it hard not to believe her himself. In all the sessions and times he spent with Evelyn, she always came across truthful and honourable. If she was rambling on about made-up stories in her mind, she was very convincing–and also consistent. However, he couldn’t just ignore what she was saying either. Evelyn was an Image Carrier and a good one at that. She had told him things in the past that came to fruition, which surprised Adam, hence taking some of what she told him seriously, but what to do with the information?

Adam had tried to study Evelyn in the past, but she wanted nothing to do with that side of herself. She didn’t like being referred to as psychic or an image carrier and found that this ability caused untold problems in her life with many breakdowns in her earlier relationships and friendships. She also told Adam that it was best for her to try and ignore that aspect of herself and focus on real matters instead of living in a fantasy world.

Yet Adam couldn’t help thinking that Evelyn may be tuning into something big. Was she picking up on something about to happen? Or was all this just part of her crazy thinking and paranoia? Evelyn had been doing well over the last few years. Adam had not picked up any strange behaviour that brought about alarm bells in his head. However, he could not get the last part of what she told him out of his head. That an extermination of sorts will occur of the likes we have never seen before. What shook Adam the most was when Evelyn pointed out that this deadly assault on the populace has already begun?

Adam also wondered if this was somehow relevant to what Tom told him and Joey the day before.

Adam’s musings were interrupted when Carol popped into his office. “Just checking if you are okay?” Carol said with a smile. “Evelyn was very distressed. She got me to double check outside before she left, as per usual.” Carol laughed. Adam reminded Carol about Evelyn’s behaviour and to be more supportive. Carol agreed. Carol and Evelyn had become sort of friends over the years and Evelyn’s odd and repetitious behaviour sometimes frustrated Carol, causing her to either laugh or grimace to break her own tension. Adam also wondered what they talked about when he heard them giggling outside before Evelyn’s meeting with him. Sometimes Carol and Evelyn would get on fine and other times, Evelyn steered away from Carol for no good reason.

That night at home, Adam and Joey talked about Tom. Joey was more eager to follow up on Tom, as he believed that something was happening with the old man. Adam wondered if what Evelyn told him was linked somehow and updated his young companion. Joey couldn’t help thinking that they were all connected. He was also a little disappointed that he wasn’t picking up anything to do with disasters or the like.

Seeing Joey’s excitement about the topic, Adam thought he’d better rationalise their conversation. “I am not sure about all this, Joey. Tom could just be a lonely, old rich man looking for company. I don’t think we should entertain his…” Adam stopped to think for a short moment and continued, “Well, I think we should leave the man alone.”

Joey sat up and was not going to leave it at that. Deep down, he was sensing that there was more to Tom and he told Adam. “I can’t put my finger on it mate, but I think the old guy is on to something. I don’t get that he is bullshitting us.” Adam secretly thought along similar lines.

Adam was amazed at Joey’s reaction and seemingly keen interest in Tom as Joey was lazy, not really interested in anyone or anything unless it was his music and catching up with one or two of his no-good acquaintances. Joey’s interest in Tom mystified Adam somewhat, but Adam also couldn’t get rid of his own gut feelings about Tom and wondered what the attraction was.

“Yes, Joey,” Adam humoured him, as he wanted to change the subject. Adam had other things on his mind and didn’t appear to have the energy to continue the conversation. “Let’s talk about Tom another time,” he said, getting up and going to bed. Joey sighed and flicked over the television channel and returned to his thoughts about how he could get Adam interested in returning to Tom’s house.

As Adam went into his bedroom, Joey quickly shouted out, “Okay mate, sleep on it, we will catch up in the morning about Uncle Tom.” Adam pretended he didn’t hear Joey.

The following Saturday morning, Adam heard an irritating noise that woke him up. He slowly opened his eyes to see that it was 7.30 am. From what he could make out of the noise, it sounded like scraping metal. He lay there thinking what it could be and then realised that Joey did stupid things like this from time to time, disturbing his sleep and peace. After a short while, Adam got up and went to investigate. He was surprised to find Joey cleaning the dishwasher, and he had already washed the kitchen floor. Even the bench space looked sparkling clean, and a strong smell of bleach overwhelmed his senses. Adam opened the kitchen window and door to let the cold air in and the peroxide stench out.

Adam couldn’t get Joey to do domestics at the best of times, so he quickly became suspicious when he found Joey cleaning away. He wondered secretly to himself what the catch was. But Joey soldiered on, looking really interested and focused on his cleaning. Adam couldn’t resist any longer and asked Joey outright what he was doing, and why he was cleaning that time of the morning–and a Saturday morning of all mornings!

“I couldn’t sleep in, so got up early and thought I’d clean up,” Joey responded casually as if this was a common thing that he did, when in fact it wasn’t. Adam recalled many arguments and shouting matches over the years regarding Joey pulling his weight around the house. The first thing Adam thought about was that Joey was being a model flatmate so that Adam would agree to visit Tom, but then again, Joey didn’t normally do things in a roundabout way. Joey used other methods to get Adam to do things for him, like continually nag. He would also say things that Adam wanted to hear in terms of him furthering his education and trying to do the right thing in the world.

Adam decided to ignore him for a while and see what developed later. He returned to his room and started reviewing some old work he had taken into his room from his office, which was another room down the hall. Occasionally, he would see Joey walk pass his door, spying on Adam as he carried a bucket on his way through to the laundry, sighing loudly, so Adam could hear and see him working very hard. Eventually, Adam left his room and went into the kitchen to grab something to eat. By this time, young Joey had completed his morning chores, and sat suspiciously quiet, tinkering away on his laptop on the corner lounge seat. He had the view of the entire lounge, kitchen and hallway. Joey seemed quite guarded about something, as he kept observing Adam’s facial expression from time to time. That morning, Joey was on his best behaviour for some very strange reason.

Adam finally asked Joey what was going on as he couldn’t find the coffee and sugar jars. It turned out that Joey had dropped Adam’s delicious left over lasagne from the night before on the floor when he grabbed something to eat earlier. He had accidentally tripped after knocking his lower leg against the unseen opened dishwasher door. And as he tried to balance himself from falling, he grabbed onto the bench top for support, knocking over the sugar, coffee, tea and other items as he fell clumsily to the ground. Joey and everything on the bench top fell on the slippery floor in a messy heap, joining the already spilt lasagne. It seemed like poor Joey had a big morning and now sat exhausted in the corner, nursing a sore leg, waiting to see if Adam was going to get upset over tonight’s dinner being no more.

Just then, the telephone rang loudly, making Joey jump in fright. He was already feeling guilty and knew that it would only be a matter of time before Adam realised that there was no coffee, tea or sugar in the house. Joey often heard Adam’s repeated story about lasagne tasting better the next day after all the tasty ingredients settled for twenty- four hours and became more flavoursome. He remembered Adam telling him the night before that he was not going to eat too much of the lasagne, but save it until the following evening, which was today, to really enjoy and appreciate the cheesy pasta dish. It was only a matter of time before Adam found out that his lovingly home-cooked lasagne that stood for 24 hours was in the bin outside.

It was Carol on the phone. She initially apologised for calling Adam at home, but she often did in what she considered emergencies, and this was one of those calls. After dialling into the office to retrieve messages, as it was the weekend, she received a strange call from Evelyn.

“Evelyn?” Adam cleared his voice.

“Yes. Very strange call, Adam,” Carol continued. “I am even getting goose bumps just telling you.”

“What did she say?” Adam asked, looking more alert now.

“She sounded distressed. She said that she wants to thank you for your support, and she respects you a lot, and that you have helped her with her demons and she is very

grateful,” Carol paused and then continued, “and that she was ringing to say goodbye.”

“Goodbye?”

“Yes!” Carol seemed to become more distraught as she recited the message to Adam over the phone. She then let out a faint sigh, as if relieved.

“Is that all she said?” Adam asked as he began to pace about, still holding the receiver to his ear.

“Yes. It was very peculiar. She seemed like old Evelyn, but… it’s just odd. What do you think she means by saying goodbye?”

“I don’t know, Carol. Look, thanks for letting me know. We can’t really do anything now, as we haven’t got any contact details. Leave it with me. Thanks Carol.” Adam hung up the phone and looked a little pale in the face.

Evelyn was not under the care of Adam and only visited occasionally to touch base. The last known address was a tiny rented apartment that she had moved out of over five years ago. There was no way of contacting Evelyn. Adam and Carol had tried over the years to get at least a contact number, but Evelyn always reported that she had no phone. They only had her mailing address, the post office box, but now that has been cancelled as well, after her quarrel with the manager there.

Joey could see Adam’s distress as Adam paced around looking deep in thought. Adam was thinking along the lines of suicide. Usually when people say their goodbyes and are in a poor state of mind, it means that they may be considering self-harm. Joey asked if everything was okay. Adam briefly updated Joey with Evelyn’s news.

“I don’t think so,” Joey remarked as he played around with his laptop.

“You sound confident,” Adam responded, looking curious.

“I just feel that she is not going to kill herself. It’s something else, mate. Maybe it’s to do with a friend or someone. Has she got any animals, pets; you know how loopy she is. She probably saw her cat catch a bird and is now freaking out.” Joey would make these remarks from time to time, but the astonishing thing about his spontaneous comments was that they were often proved correct. Adam felt a little relieved, as Joey seemed so sure of himself. Additionally, Evelyn sometimes reacted like this, being very dramatic and mysterious, but this was new somehow, as she never left messages on the answer machine before, only leaving long silent pauses before hanging up.

Adam was now perplexed. Evelyn was strange to say the least, but she had never done anything like this before. She was a very secretive person and did take off for months at a time. She just disappeared and then popped up again. That was her. When Evelyn did embark on her disappearing acts, she did not feel it necessary to advise Adam beforehand, so why now?

Joey pulled up in front of the secluded property. After speaking on the intercom, he drove up a slate road towards the mansion. The beautiful lawns and gardens were still looking exquisite. His car came to a stop under the extended roof. His car was now shaded from the morning sun. The flowers tangling around the two pillars holding up the outer roof blocked out most of the glare, shading the entrance to the house. In contrast, the living greenery facing the sun looked happy with its purple and white flowers, which appeared to consume the fresh morning sun. Little birds and finches darted around on the nearby lawn and they made soft chirping noises as they rummaged for juicy tit bits to swallow.

An old man came out to meet Joey as he got out of his car.

Tom was surprised to see Joey and enquired about Adam’s whereabouts. Joey thought that he would take the opportunity to see if Tom was available, as he was in the area and took a chance to see if Tom was at home. Tom smiled and invited Joey in, reassuring him he did the right thing and that he was always welcome.

“I spoke with Adam last night, and we thought that we would visit again,” Joey explained to Tom.

“Good, good,” Tom said. “So Adam is on his way?” Tom asked, looking livelier.

“No,” Joey quickly intervened. “I was just in the area, so thought I’d see if you were home…” Joey stopped talking and looked down, trying to think of something else to say.

“No! No! That’s fine, son,” Tom said, noticing the uncomfortableness in Joey’s body language and voice. Then silence fell on the pair for a few seconds that seemed to go on, until Tom finally continued. “So, when would it suit you guys to visit? We can have another chat.”

Joey, still standing awkwardly in the hallway, quickly made a gesture that he was heading off again, giving the impression he was not going to stay. He then responded: “Anytime, Tom, just let Adam know.” He walked back to the doorway. “I will let Adam know I popped around to say hello.”

“Yes, I think the quicker we can get this sorted, the better. I am not a young man anymore,” Tom said, as he chuckled to himself, walking Joey out. “The sooner we sort this out, the better it will be…” Tom confirmed. He then pushed open the large, heavy door that led to the front porch. The adjoining door was bolted down and was not necessary to unlock and open as well. “Have a safe trip and see you boys soon,” Tom said, trying to keep his voice up as Joey headed for his car.

Joey jumped in his old car and waved at Tom as he pulled away, revving his engine just a little too loud for Tom’s sensitive ears.