Outside Forces

CHAPTER 28

  Sunday 18:20 Near Okotoks, Alberta, Canada

  “Just ask him, Richard.”

  Richard released his grip on his son and stepped back. “In my study, Michael, we found my maps spread out on the floor.”

  Michael whimpered and his knees buckled. Richard grabbed him before he fell to the floor. “I know,” he cried. “It was Heart Mountain.” He wiped his eyes and sniffed. “But Lucy already hiked it once this year and that’s why.…” He moaned and wailed again. “Lucy.…”

  “Were you there on the mountain with her, Michael?”

  Michael gasped, stifling his current wail midstream. He swallowed hard and almost choked on his response. “What? No, Dad, no!”

  “Michael!” Richard shouted. He shook his son. “Did you push her off that mountain?”

  Michael dropped his head to his chest and sobbed uncontrollably. “I couldn’t.…” He lifted his eyes up towards his father defiantly. “I would have saved her, Dad! I just.…” He sobbed some more.

  “Jesus Christ, Michael. You scrawled all over those maps about pushing her.”

  “Huh? I did what?”

  “The maps, Michael. ‘I didn’t do it. Never pushed her’—it was written all over the maps. And Heart Mountain just happened to have one big circle around it. Is this why you didn’t want us to call the police?”

  “No!” His eyes closed tight. “Shhh! But I didn’t push her. She fell.…”

  “She fell?” Richard interjected. Tawnie gasped.

  Michael’s eyes opened wide. “No! I mean at the apartment. She fell at her apartment while I was hiding.”

  “Richard,” Michelle whispered and stepped into the room next to him. “Just…maybe slow down a bit.”

  “She fell,” Michael whispered. His eyes danced around manically. “I didn’t push her,” he added and started to shake. He frowned in confusion. “Maps? I didn’t write anything on any maps.”

  Richard released his grasp on Michael, letting him stand on his own. “Come on. Who did, then?” Even as he said it, he knew the answer. Of course Michael had written the words. The voices were back, speaking to Michael, prompting him and guiding his actions.

  Michael whimpered back, pleading for his father to believe him, “…but Dad… I didn’t.…”

  And the proof was right there in Michael’s denial. And if Michael couldn’t remember writing on the map, what else was Michael forgetting? It had happened before.

  “You didn’t write anything?”

  “No,” Michael insisted. “Well, not words. I just marked the trails trying to find the right one. It was Heart Mountain.” He stole a peek up at his father. “I’m sorry.…”

  “So where were you when you called me on Saturday?”

  Michael didn’t reply and fell onto the floor. He shifted onto his rear, pulled in his knees up to his chest, and buried his head in his arms. He began to mutter away to himself. “Her bedroom. Oh, Lucy…she fell in her bedroom. No I didn’t. I didn’t push her. No!” A pause. “The blood was there before she fell.” Another pause. “Yes it was.”

  “Should I call someone?” Michelle asked.

  Tawnie remained at the door. To Richard she looked sad, as if all hope for her young brother’s bright future was forever blasted away as he sat smouldering in the ruins. There was no point in badgering Michael any further.

  “We’ll deal with this ourselves. Come, help me get Michael up and into the front room. Tawnie, please grab a water from the kitchen for Michael.”