CHAPTER NINETEEN
I had to wear my cast for nearly two months and they were, without doubt, the best two months of my life so far. Even the pain and awkwardness of a broken leg couldn't dull my happiness.
I'd dreaded being unable to do anything, especially after Rose and Gabriel said I should avoid agonizing over recent events and should just concentrate on getting my life back together. That is exactly what I did and admittedly, it was the best thing for me.
It was January, it was absolutely freezing, yet I had become accustomed to the colder weather in Canada. I had actually begun to love waking up on a chilly morning and opening my bedroom window to take a few breaths of crisp cold air. It was the perfect way to wake myself up, followed by a hot bath, which I had finally mastered getting into without the help of either Meredith, Sonya or Jo who had all taken it in turns to pop round first thing to help. But still, I couldn't wait to get the cast off.
Thanksgiving had been an eye opener for me. It was time for family, pure and simple. And although my family had a lot to be thankful for, it was a sad occasion because we missed my father terribly.
Much of the day was spent talking about old times, the times I had missed – either because I had not yet been born to this world, or I was being kept holed up in a London apartment. I heard stories about my father and his brother and sister when they were children. The fun they'd had growing up in this fantastic part of the world. The mischief they had created and the love that had bound them together.
With Ben, Crystal and Oliver with us for much of the day, we were unable to talk about the unusual circumstances that surrounded our lives and, in a way, it was nice to just be normal. It was also wonderful to be able to spend time with my family as well as my boyfriend. There had never been any need to hide the fact that we were together, as everyone had accepted us immediately.
But it was my first real Christmas that was particularly memorable. It was unlike anything I had ever experienced. It was the first time I had ever had the opportunity to celebrate it and so I immersed myself into the festive spirit.
Whilst living in London, I had overheard wonderful stories at school about what the other kids had been up to during the holidays and I had envied them tremendously. For me though, Christmas was simply any other day in the calendar. No gifts, no decorations but more importantly, no loving family, no joy.
Yet in Canada, we had experienced all of this and much more. The whole family, as well as Oliver, Ben and Crystal again, came to our house to celebrate Christmas day. Everybody helped prepare the most sumptuous feast I had ever laid my eyes on and then we had all exchanged gifts.
I was given clothes by everyone. My family were clearly sick of seeing me wearing nothing but black and so they had all produced a new wardrobe. They had planned everything together and I assumed that Jo was responsible for doing most of the shopping. When I asked her, she nodded, “With the help of my mom, of course!”
“You're such a great person, Lilly, we want to see you in colours that match your personality,” Sonya had said, speaking for them all later on. I was touched. After thirteen years of yellow and months of black, the time had finally come for the rainbow.
The day was glorious. My biggest regret was that my father was not there. I would have given anything to have him spend that day with us. It would have meant so much, not just to me but to the rest of the family, especially Gabriel who had lost his son so many years before. But as we had spent most of Thanksgiving thinking about him and what had become of him, we refused to be sad on December 25th too.
Everybody knew that Christmas was totally new to me and I got the impression that they'd made more of an occasion out of it than they would normally have done.
I believe they were making up for all those years of my 'living' in a room with little contact with the outside world. I told them they needn't have made so much effort. I'd have been equally as happy to put up a Christmas tree and have a normal dinner with everyone. But I understood that they were showing me how much they loved me and how much they'd missed me over the years. The feeling was completely mutual.
Between Christmas and New Year I had received another huge surprise – a birthday party.
It was December 28 and, although I was aware that it was the date I was born, it never even occurred to me that anyone else would take much notice. After all, nobody ever had. The other thing that had been on my mind was the fact that not only was it my birthday, it was also the date I had lost my sister. The date of Neleh's death. And it was very close to the anniversary of my mother's death too.
How could I celebrate when something so horrific had happened on that very day fourteen years earlier? It was difficult, but having never had the opportunity to meet my mother or my sister, my sorrow could not equal the sorrow that perhaps Rose was feeling. Or Gabriel. Or any of my family for that matter.
I refused to dwell on the sad facts of that day, remembering instead that it was my birthday. I was a year older and I was excited at turning fourteen. On the outside, I didn't look any different but on the inside I felt like I was becoming a completely different person. Comparing me to the person I was just a year earlier, I could barely recognise myself.
In England while living under the roof of that witch, it was as if she had reached down into my soul and sucked my true personality and character right out of me. I had been a simple and insanely naïve girl who had truly believed that my life had been normal. How wrong could I have been?
A year on and the real me was finally emerging from my shell. I felt like I was becoming a young woman. A strong, independent young woman and I finally felt good about myself. I finally felt like I could face the world head on.
The day had passed much like any other. Gabriel had rushed out of the house and yelled that he would see me later. He didn't mention what day it was, so neither did I. Ben had come by the house to collect me first thing that morning and we had gone straight to the practice where I had started training a few weeks before. It was a bit of a struggle at first, moving around with my crutches clumsily getting in the way of everything. I hadn't been able to physically handle any of the animals as we were waiting for my cast to be removed first. But I learned a lot just by watching Ben carefully, answering telephone calls and speaking to the locals about their pet's problems. It had opened a whole new world to me and I was becoming even more confident in myself. I wouldn't shy away from anything like I would have done just a few months previously.
Ben had even taken me out on occasion when he had horses to treat. Although I could do very little, I was fascinated by these regal creatures. There was always a part of me that wondered who they really were though. Twice we had been called out to injured horses – just like the injuries Ben had treated on the day of my accident. He concluded that whatever had attacked them had managed to remove some of the sinew from the inside of their legs. It was a mystery to him. To me, however, it was slightly less mysterious. I knew the crimes had probably been committed by a changeling, a vampire perhaps? A witch, even? But, as usual, I had to keep my thoughts to myself.
On my birthday, after a few hours of work (it was particularly busy that Christmas), we had made sure everything was cleaned up before we locked up the clinic before heading back in Ben's truck.
I had noticed Ben's sideways glances at me a couple of times throughout the day but had assumed it was because he was checking how I was doing. However, as we arrived home, I soon figured out that hadn't been the reason at all.
“Happy Birthday, Lilly!” shouted a house full of family and friends as I gingerly pushed open the front door with one of my crutches.
Shock rippled through me and my initial reaction was to cry. I was totally overwhelmed. It hit me even more than Christmas day had. A birthday party. For me. I was completely speechless as everybody laughed and rushed over to hug and kiss me. Sonya was a little concerned why tears were falling down my face but I reassured her that they were most certainly tears of happiness.
There was even a big banner with the words 'Happy Birthday Lilly' hung loosely across the top of the dining table which was covered in a mass of food, the likes of which I'd never seen before.
There were miniature sausages, boiled eggs that had been cut in half and the hard yolks mixed with mayonnaise, little pastries in all shapes and sizes, pieces of cheese on sticks with pineapple and ham, my favourite crisps and nuts and they were just the things to nibble on. Another table that I hadn't noticed at first was covered in salads and cooked meats, full-size sausages and burgers and more. Lastly though, there was a huge variety of cute little cupcakes all with little wings on them. It was an amazing spread and I couldn't believe it had all been done under a cloud of secrecy. I had no idea that it was being planned at all.
I saw that Oliver was standing back, patiently waiting for me to speak to everyone else first. And then when there was a gap, he approached me and put his arms around me and gave me a big hug, “Happy Birthday, babe. You're catching me up,” he whispered in my ear.
I pulled back and looked at him and smiled before he leaned forward and kissed me briefly on the lips. I knew he was a little shy about kissing me in front of my family so a bear bug was his way of showing how much he cared.
As he loosened his grip, I turned to have another look at the scene before me and shook my head in disbelief. I still couldn't believe that they had all gone to such effort for me.
Oliver went to get us some drinks while I was dragged away by Jo, who was clearly dying to give me her gift. She pulled me away from the crowd and into my bedroom where she handed me a beautifully wrapped box and sat cross-legged on my bed.
“I've been dying to come and see you all day but I couldn't, of course. I couldn't spoil the surprise,” she laughed.
As I tried to remove the paper carefully without ripping it, Jo laughed at me and grabbed at the box, “Oh... just rip it,” she said.
I pulled the box back from her and did as I was told, ripping the shiny pink paper away from the present underneath. I opened the lid and found a little gadget and some headphones.
“It's an MP3 player!” squealed Jo as she jumped up from the bed, “here, let me show you,” and she demonstrated how it worked and how I could now listen to music wherever and whenever I wanted.
I was so touched. Even though we hadn't spoken very much about music, she had obviously picked up on the one thing that I loved. It had been another thing forbidden by Vivian so to actually own my own music player was amazing and I told Jo so, while giving her a big hug.
“I've taken the liberty of putting some of my favourite songs on there, just to get you started. There's some Taylor Swift, Kelly Clarkson, Lady Antebellum, Raintown, Sugarland, Rascal Flatts and a few others that I'm sure you'll love. Now I know you haven't got a computer yet but you can always come round to my house to download some more, okay?” she said happily, with a smirk on her face.
I nodded while I put the headphones in my ears and switched it on. The sounds that floated into my ears was like heaven and I couldn't thank her enough. I stood listening for a few minutes while she watched me, giggling before grabbing my arm and pulling me back into the party, nearly knocking me over.
“Oops... sorry, I keep forgetting about your leg. Come on... there's probably lots more presents to open,” she said, my bedroom door closing behind us.
“There you are. I was looking for you,” said Oliver with a glass of orange juice in his hand. His other hand was sneakily hidden behind his back. He smirked as he handed me the juice and waited a few moments as I took a few gulps and then put the glass down before he gave me my birthday present. It was a very small gift, wrapped haphazardly, for which he apologised, laughing. “Wrapping gifts isn't one of my strong points,” he joked.
I looked around to make sure I wasn't being watched by anyone else, as I was still a little embarrassed at being given things. I had never been given very much before so I wasn't used to it – not even after all the wonderful things that had been lovingly given to me on Christmas day.
As I unwrapped the purple and silver paper, I found a circular box and when I opened it, I saw two beautiful little crystals in the shape of angels.
“It's to hang from the window in your bedroom. When I saw them I thought of you,” he said, adding “and your mother and sister,” he shrugged shyly, embarrassed.
“I know that today is the day Neleh died and I just thought, well, I just thought you could hang them up today and they would be like guardian angels or something. It's silly, really,” he said shrugging again, as his cheeks turned a little pink.
I hugged him tightly and grabbed his hand and pulled him towards my room, “Oliver, they are absolutely beautiful,” I said trying hard not to shed a tear. ”This is the best gift I've ever had. Thank you.”
With the bedroom door closed behind us, I leaned up to him and kissed him gently while he wrapped his arms around me tightly.
“I'm so lucky to have you, you know that?” I asked him as I snuggled into his shoulder and he laughed.
“I'm the lucky one,” he said.
The crystal angels were even more stunning when hung on either side of my window. The way the sun caught them made shafts of glimmering light shoot across the room, creating miniature rainbows all over the place. It was beautiful.
But we couldn't lounge around alone for much longer as I was soon called back into the party as there were lots more gifts to open and partying to do. My final birthday present was a joint gift from Gabriel, Rose, Meredith and Wyatt. They had waited for everybody to leave before giving it to me... it was my very own computer.
They explained that even though they had split the cost between them, they had only been able to afford a second-hand laptop but it was in excellent order, Wyatt had said as he showed me how to work it.
“It wouldn't matter if it was out of the ark, it's fantastic” I told them as they laughed.
“We know you've only ever used computers at school and we know most kids have them these days and felt that you should no longer have to miss out on anything,” said Rose.
“Plus, it'll come in very handy for your research,” added Meredith.
No matter how hard I tried at that moment, I could not stop the tears from flowing down my cheeks.
I gave each one a big hug and thanked them from the bottom of my heart, knowing that I would use my new computer more than they could have imagined. There was now a whole world at the end of my fingertips and I was determined to discover it.
After the others had all gone home, I rang Jo to tell her the good news but, naturally, she'd already known and said that she'd had difficulty not saying something when she'd given me my MP3 player. We laughed and chatted for a little while before she told me that we could now chat online whenever we wanted to... as Gabriel had also organised for me to be hooked up to the internet.
“Which also means that you can finally keep in touch with your friend, December,” added Jo. She was right, of course; the last letter I had received from my only friend in England had included her email address.
In fact, that night before I went to bed, I created my own email address and promptly sent December a message telling her all about Thanksgiving, Christmas and my birthday. I knew she would be delighted.
Again, my life was changing dramatically and I was loving every second of it. I still thought about my father every day but was beginning to realise there was little I could do to find him on my own. I would need my family's help and to be able to get that, I had to wait until the spring. Until then, I would continue to read books and articles online.
And that's what I did over the course of the next month. When I wasn't at school, working with Ben, hanging out with Oliver, or chatting to December or Jo online, I would devour as much information as possible. I didn't just read about all the animals that might appear in my path but also about myths, legends and tales about the so-called supernatural world. I read about beings that were only supposed to exist in story books,
but I knew different and I also knew that I needed to learn as much about them as possible. Naturally, much of what I read wasn't exactly strong factual information, but beliefs and, in some cases, pure fiction. Nevertheless, every little scrap of detail was devoured. The more I knew, whether it was entirely true or not, made me a stronger person. Or should I say a stronger raven or a stronger cat... which, I still didn't know.
I was fortunate that Oliver was interested in the same things as me. We spent much of our time watching spooky TV shows and movies, before discussing them in depth. Oliver, assuming that we just shared a common thrill for the supernatural, when I knew that the majority of what we saw was, more than likely, true.