Chapter Four

Chapter Four

The first time she laid eyes on Edinburgh Castle, she was not impressed. It was big and chunky and not at all the elegant spires and drawbridges that she envisioned all castles to be. Yet when she passed under the portcullis and entered the castle grounds, she immediately fell in love. Walking along the castle walkways and along the battlements was like coming home.  From the cobblestone streets and walkways to the gargoyles on the towers, she felt at ease. Possibly, she imagined, in another life she had called this home. 

Ominous. Big bold letters, OMINOUS. It was the only word that filled her mind when she saw the castle. Every time she saw it, sitting atop an extinct volcano, the dark volcanic rock surrounding, the sheer drops from three sides gave it a strategic position, a position of power. Perhaps that was the feeling the original architects were trying to instill. She imagined a Viking or foot soldier standing at the bottom of those walls, knowing their commander expected the defeat of those within. She shook her head glad to be a visitor and not an invading army.

She loved to come here and gaze out from the battlements. The views, on clear days, were incredible. Her favorite view was standing on the esplanade at the main gate and looking down the Royal Mile. She liked the look of the old buildings crowding the cobblestone streets. She tried to imagine what it was like to live here many years ago when it all was new.  

Tonight though, the streets were empty and all was quiet except for the sound of their shoes on the cobblestones. The Castle was dark now, but earlier it would have been aglow in lights. A majestic vision floating out of the past. Dimmer now, with a few lights lit for the castle guards on duty to function by. They walked onto the esplanade and sat on the short wall. Her dad took a deep breath, pursed his lips, tilted his head back, and began to speak into the night. 

"When I was in my early teens, it was Christmas time, and my grandmother was in the hospital. We, my mom and dad, had been to the hospital earlier that day to visit and give her a Christmas present." He stopped talking for a moment and closed his eyes and tilted his head to the side. "Being the self-centered, clueless teenager I was, I asked Dad what we had given her and he told me a hair brush. Well that was just the most ridiculous gift I had ever heard of and I asked why on Earth he would give her that? He said because she had worn out her brush. I sat in the back seat of the car and wondered if she would live long enough to wear out the new one.”

“That night, I dreamed that my Grandmother came into my room and woke me. She gave me a big hug and thanked me for the hair brush. She ran her hand down her hair. 'See how pretty it is.' I remember her hair was long, shiny and down around her face. This was a big deal because she always wore it in a bun or braided and worked around her head. I remember asking her how she had gotten out of the hospital so quickly, and she replied that an angel had helped her leave. Then she stood up kissed me and told me she had to go, but that I was to remember that she loved me very much, and she walked out the door." 

He paused, took a shaky breath and wiped his eyes with the cuff of his jacket. "The phone rang right after she left and I remember waking up and realizing it was a dream. I heard my dad on the phone and my mother crying. I walked into their room and Dad told me it was the hospital that Grandmother had passed away." He turned to Kate and took both her hands in his as he looked into her eyes. "Hear me now. If you think you are the cause of Josh's accident, I say no. Some people just have a way of knowing things. I never thought that I caused my grandmother to die. I was just grateful to have had the chance to say goodbye." 

Kate stared at her dad. She had never heard this story before, nor had she heard him speak of his dreams. 

"Did you tell your parents?” she asked. 

He sighed and looked down at their hands and said, "I didn't talk to anyone about it. I tried once to talk to my mom, but she put me off and said that I was embellishing on coincidences. I tried to believe that I was just making a mountain out of a mole hill, but I kept having dreams.  Some really weird ones that never came true, but then there were ones that seemed real and they always happened the way I dreamed them. Sometimes I had dreams that I wished weren’t true, like with my grandmother or when a girl I was dating broke up with me. On the upside, sometimes I would have dreams where I knew the answers to the big test. It’s not always a bad thing. Of course you can’t count on having those dreams so... you’d better study. All the time!"

Kate managed a weak smile. Her eyes drifted away from him, across the esplanade toward the castle without really seeing it. Her mind leafed through everything her father told her and the dream about Josh and her visions of Mr. Shaw.  

"Dad, how old were you when your grandmother died?" 

He bit his top lip and thought for a moment, then he said, “I was about thirteen." Then he paused and added, "A few years younger than you are now."

“Your mom, right?”

“Huh?”

“You get it from your mom.”

“Ya, it's Mom.”

“And how old were you when your mom admitted to having the same 'gift'?”

He exhaled, “Twenty. After years of feeling alone, she finally confessed. She became much more understanding and comforting. Especially with the hard emotional visions. I think she was hoping it would skip me, and if she didn't acknowledge it, it would just go away. Perhaps she thought my dreams were flukes, but I was cursed, or blessed, with the same visions she had.”

“Today while I was talking to Mrs. Shaw, I had a vision, I guess you'd call it, of Mr. Shaw in a hospital hooked up to all sorts of machines and oxygen. Dad he didn't look very good...” Her breath caught in the back of her throat. “I just can't take another bit of bad news right now.”

He grabbed her into a bear hug and kissed the top of her head.

“You're not alone with this, I swear. I have had visions since we have come here too. How do you think I knew where to find you today? But I try not to dwell on them. If it is something that is to come, it will come, and if not, then it's just your worries manifesting themselves. Either way there is nothing you, yourself, can do about them. Think of them as the weather forecast, sometimes they get it right and sometimes they don't. In the meantime, I am here and I am a really good listener. I will try to help you sort things out, but sometimes there are no answers till it's staring you in the face.”  He paused and let her sit back. “I am here. I promise.”

“And mom?”

“No. Not mom. She just doesn't understand unless she can weigh and measure it. Let's just leave mom out of it. For both our sakes.”  His bluntness surprised her.

She thought about what he had just told her. It didn’t change the fact that Josh was in the hospital and she was stuck here. But it made her realize that she had not caused the accident and that helped.

He squinted one eye and stared at Kate. “Feeling better?”

She shrugged.

“Me neither. Guess we should be going. If we get home soon, you could still get a few hours sleep before school starts,” he said.

They made their way off the castle grounds and back down the hill to their apartment, where everything was quiet and still.

She dragged herself into her room and fell on her bed. He walked in behind her and covered her with a blanket. 

He leaned down and kissed her, "Sweet dreams. Really sweet dreams, honey." 

She smiled and closed her eyes.

Thunder rolled across the city. Trees that had been swaying softly a few minutes ago thrashed wildly from side to side desperate to free their roots in an attempt to escape the path of the oncoming storm. Blossoms freed from the apple trees danced madly across the streets, while the wind flogged its branches.

She heard a yelp come from another room, as she saw the first of the laundry hanging outside hit the ground. A woman’s voice echoed through the room. 

"Andrew! Help me!” 

She and Andrew ran out to help the woman rescue the laundry. Clean clothes were hastily thrown into a bushel basket and Andrew snatched up the clothes that lay on the ground, running nimbly and entering the kitchen door just as the first drops of rain hit. Before they could set down the wash, the skies broke open and the rain fell in sheets over the little building. Thunder cracked overhead and both Kate and Andrew jumped. They looked at each other and laughed. 

"Scared of a wee bit of thunder?” he asked her. 

"No," she said with her hands on her hips, "Scared of big thunder." 

They laughed again. 

"Here, help me get these clothes sorted out,” his mother said. “Perhaps we can string a line up in here close to the fire. Put these dirty clothes…Oh!” she held up a white shirt with a mud spot on it, “I just finished getting a stain out of this shirt and look at it now. Oh well, I..." 

She never finished what she was saying. Another rumble of thunder shook the sky over their home and woke the baby sleeping in the back room. His mom dropped her hands to her side. 

"I was so hoping your little brother was gonna to sleep until I at least got the first load done. Andrew, can you get this laundry by yer self?" she asked. 

Kate rolled over in her sleep and pushed Chili's face out of hers.

Dodging mud puddles and squeezing through loose boards in fences, Kate felt an exhilaration, running without tiring. No heavy breathing, her legs getting stronger and stronger, muscles forcing her feet to punch the ground going ever faster and faster the joy infecting her whole being. An inkling in the back of her mind told her this wasn't real, but she pushed that aside and ran on, enjoying the feeling. They raced all the way through town to the shipyards.

As they neared the time clock post, they came across a large crowd gathered there. Men dressed in dirty coveralls and heavy work boots that had seen countless hours of work. Their faces spoke of anger and outrage. Kate pulled up, not sure she wanted to go any further. The boy beside her nodded his head and she followed Andrew into the gathering. As they drew closer to the clock post, they saw one of the men sitting on a pile of steel beams. His head was down and his hat was off. A tall, lean man standing behind him had his hand on the man’s back, attempting to console him, as were several others. 

"What am I going to do? Me wife’s with child and I won't be able to pay the rent when it comes due next week," the seated man said. 

"This can't be right! This has to be a mistake. How do they expect to have this ship ready on time if they cut the number of men on the teams? It’s madness," she heard the tall man say.  "They surely don’t expect us to work around the clock.” 

A new man joined the group. "I just heard that around 75 men have lost their jobs. Jim is already heading over to sign up on the unemployment register," he said. 

"Is he now?” the tall man said, shaking his head. He caught sight of Andrew and Kate, "Well, lads, looks like me ride is here.” His demeanor changing abruptly. “I will see you later." He gave one last pat on the back to the man sitting and the tall man, Andrew's father, walked over to them. 

Large puddles dotted the road, from the morning's rain, forcing the trio to weave their way as they walked, side stepping the larger ones and jumping smaller ones. They passed the grocers and the hardware store, usually teeming with people, now mostly abandoned. Of the few people they encountered, some raised a hand, but most just nodded. There was a sad, discouraged feel in the air. 

As they neared home, Andrew's mom came out to meet them. Her hair was disheveled and she was wiping her hands on a dishtowel. She looked as though she had been crying. Andrew's father rushed to her. 

"Mary what’s this? What's happened? Are you all right?” he asked her.

She just shook her head and threw her arms around his neck. They stood like that for a while as she cried. 

After a moment, she spoke. "I heard that there were a lot of men who lost their jobs today at the ship yard.  I…," she sniffed and wiped her eyes with the dish towel and buried her head into his chest, "just knew it was you." 

He hugged her tight and leaned down to whisper something to her, he kissed her on the cheek and straightened up. He put his arm around her shoulder as they walked inside.

Kate looked at Andrew, seeing the uncertainty in his eyes. Kate felt the awkwardness of being the outsider. She could do nothing for this family. She was completely helpless.