Kashmira turned them over and inspected them. Extra padding was confirmed.
"Do I look like somebody who needs a wheelchair?"
Indeed, she did not. More importantly as far as Mathias was concerned, Kashmira's body language predicted flurries would be turning into snow squalls soon and somebody would need snowshoes to push his way through the drifts. The wheelchair would need a set of snow tires.
"If I don't need a wheelchair, why would I need padded moccasins? I'm fine with bare feet."
In fact, she did have bare feet. Part of the breezy look perhaps.
"Sometimes Mathias, your jokes are not funny at all."
"But..."
But was exactly what all the spectators to this contretemps were thinking as well. They had all seen her in her wheelchair and she had liked the wheelchair moccasins.
"Oh. You were trying to cheer me up. I get it. You thought I would be still mad from my song." She approached Mathias, pulled one cheek close and gave him a peck. "Thank you. I will keep these in my bedroom in case my feet become sore." She turned back to the cupboards where nobody could see her face, rolled her eyes, and put the moccasins on the counter. Even 13-year old girls know that men have no idea of the kind of gifts that they should offer to women.
Kashmira continued her search through the first cupboard. The Wilizy watched, confused.
Kashmira went on to the second cupboard, leaving the door to the first cupboard wide open.
The third and the fourth cupboards followed soon afterwards.
"Uh, what are you looking for, Kashmira?" Granny was always the woman in the family who was the most daring.
"I'm looking for food. I'm starving and we have no food in this kitchen."
Well, since every cupboard door was wide open, and since the fridge door was once again open while Kashmira pushed contents to and fro looking for something as yet undetermined,.... given all of this, it was easy to see that there was lots of food.
"That's not fair, Kashmira. We have lots of food. Perhaps you shouldn't be so rude in front of guests."
"There's no pudding! Why can't we have pudding in this house? Just once?"
Granny ran through a mental checklist:
Obnoxious? Check.
Rude? Check.
Argumentative? Check.
Attitude? Check.
Hungry? Check.
Questionable choice of clothing? Check.
Pushing the boundaries on what is appropriate to wear/not wear? Check.
Granny shrugged. This was typical behaviour for a teenage girl. Kashmira was alive after all.
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Chapter 55: Epilog
I'm sure my readers will forgive Kashmira for her rude behaviour that morning in the galley. You'll recall that she hadn't eaten for days and her blood sugar levels must have been close to zero. She was more like her normal self that afternoon, and she did manage to eat a reasonable amount for supper – reasonable for her at least. A couple of days later, Doc and Granny discontinued the drip, watched how much she ate carefully, and also watched her gain weight. The recovery process took months, but Kashmira did regain her health. She also began to grow taller.
Her mental health was another matter. Kashmira had huge gaps in her memory and these never were restored. She didn't remember being in a wheelchair. Not in the church, not in the ship, and not in the basement pit. She remembered what was happening around her at those times, but in her mind, she was walking upright. She didn't remember being deathly ill. She did remember that she had been starved as a child and was used to eating small portions. She did remember that she was often tired. But she simply remembered that as part of her normal life.
She didn't remember the talks that she had with Stu about how she would spend her father's money, nor did she remember asking him to draw up a will. She did agree with everything contained in that will, but couldn't believe that she had been the one to suggest such things. She did remember coming up with the idea for adding rats to the vault and forcing her father to sign everything over to him. She did remember how her mom had died and was able to put that behind her after the song in the church. She also remembered everything that had been wrong in that church and all of the sins that the paterfamilias had committed. She and the other victims were able to put that behind them after her song in the church.
She remembered all of the conversations and lessons that she had had with Doc. She remembered all of the conversations and days with Mathias, but as you've learned, she didn't remember kissing him when she was extremely sick. These significant memories of her life were forever gone. She never did recover them.
# # # # # # #
Not everything that happened in the church that day went forgotten. After the congregation had left the church, Materfamilias turned to deal with both El Patrón and Paterfamilias who were still confined to their chairs. She discovered that they wouldn't be leaving those chairs on their own. Winnie was her sole contact with the Wilizy and she wasn't there. Materfamilias called The Guardia.
Since both El Patrón and Paterfamilias had died while they technically were in custody, the captain of The Guardia decided to conduct an inquest. That meant an autopsy would be needed. Materfamilias and Doc were invited to watch the autopsy as it was being conducted.
Materfamilias was asked to give evidence at the inquest since she had been at the front of the church with the two men when they died. Materfamilias testified that the two men were guests of the church. The church's intent was to give the men a chance to hear the word of God and prepare themselves for their upcoming trials. The church service was quite simple. A couple of hymns basically. They spent most of the morning conducting church business. Nobody in the church noticed that the men had died until the service was over.
The coroner reported that he could find no cause of death. He had examined all of their internal organs. Nothing was amiss. Doc was asked to appear at the inquest to answer questions about what he had seen in the autopsy since he was one of the few fully trained physicians in the area. Doc confirmed that the coroner had done a proper job and he himself had seen no cause of death when he had examined the body. He suggested that they both died at about the same time because of the stress they'd be facing soon with their trial.
The captain of The Guardia wanted Kashmira to give evidence too, but Doc reported that she had been deathly ill and was only now recovering. She had huge gaps in her memory and would not be able to give a coherent account of what had happened in the church. Materfamilias said that Kashmira had been near the men when she sang some hymns for the congregation but that could not have caused their death.
The inquest's ruling was: death by natural causes.
# # # # # # #
Materfamilias and Doc talked together after the inquest. Both knew that the other had lied, so they had something in common.
Materfamilias was able to clear up some of the confusion about what had happened in the church. Kashmira had indeed sung a powerful, fearful song. She was sitting in her wheelchair in front of the two men and was close enough to them that she was actually holding their faces – perhaps to make sure that they couldn't turn away from her. They were forced to face Kashmira in her chair and received the full brunt of the song.
The women in the church received a reflected version of Kashmira's song. It was enough to send them to the floor – wailing and beating on the floor in fear and shame. But it wasn't enough to kill. Materfamilias herself recognized what was happening and had hid in the church's sanctuary – the holiest room in the church.
"You have seen this before?" Doc asked.
"Not personally. But I've heard tales of this happening. Few believe the stories. I didn't. I do now."
"Do you know when they died?"
"No. As I said, I wasn't there. But I knew they were dead when I returned from the sanctuary."
"They died from that song," Doc asked
"Most assuredly. The coroner
didn't find a cause of death. Did he look properly?"
"No, he didn't."
"You're a doctor. Would you have found the cause?"
"Most assuredly."
# # # # # # #
Doc and Granny talked about all of this one night in December before they went to sleep. They had accepted that Kashmira had been dead but was now alive. They agreed that two evil men were now dead, at Kashmira's hand, but perhaps not with her full awareness. Neither of them wanted to ask her if she realized what she was doing with her song. They had accepted that Kashmira's memory of the whole operation had suspicious holes, but they believed her when she said that she couldn't remember.
"What are you planning to do?" Granny asked.
"About what?"
"The whole thing. Are you going to find out why Kashmira died but didn't die? Did she know what she was doing to those two men in the church? Why does she have selective holes in her memory? Who put them there?"
"How would I find that out?"
"To start with, you could use a TiTr search to learn what happened in the October 20th meeting in the church."
"It is what it is," he said. "Just let it go."
# # # # # # #
And that's what I'm planning to do too. I'm going to let it go. I could do a TiTr search. But I don't want to know what kind of creature took over that church on Tuesday, November 19, 2086. Did it come from Hell? Did it come from Heaven? It certainly wasn't of this world.
"How do I know that?" you ask. I know that because I have Kashmira's wheelchair moccasins in front of me as I write these words. Kashmira never wore those moccasins again. There was no need. For a time, they sat in a dark corner in her closet. Later they migrated to a barrel of used clothing that sat for ages in a deep recess in the barrels in the caves behind the home compound. I found them there. Not because I was looking for them or because I had suspicions. I found them because I was going through family possessions one night when I was feeling sentimental and lonely.
The extra padding in the moccasins had been soft and comfortable. It held the imprint of what feet had been in those moccasins that morning in the church. The creature that wore them had three long claws for feet. The foot print – hoof print? – was well preserved. I don't know what kind of creature left those prints. I searched the databases. Whatever was standing in those moccasins that morning in that church was not of this world.
However, I can tell you how the two evil men died. The coroner never examined the brains of the two dead men. Had he done so, he would have found that the cell walls of their brains had disintegrated. What was left would never function again. In a word, what was left in those two head cavities was pudding.
I can't tell you if that was why Kashmira had developed such an obsession on finding some pudding after singing that song in the church. Perhaps she knew what she had done to them. Perhaps she didn't. I'm not going to investigate. A creature with three long claws for feet took over a human body in a holy church and killed two sinful men. I don't want it coming after me.
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Other Novels by David J. Wighton
It would be best to read the novels in the Wilizy series in order.
I Got'cha: Book #1 in the Wilizy Series (July 2081 to October 2081
If you think being a teenager in today's world is tough, try being one in 2081. In Alberta's It's Only Fair society, your brain-band will zap you just for chewing with your mouth open. One boy pried his brain-band off to see what living with emotions would be like. Being chased by the entire Alberta army was bad enough. It became worse when another 15 year old kid offered to help him escape.
The Get-Even Bird: Book #2 in the Wilizy Series (November 2081 to April 2082)
Will and Izzy are forced to flee from Zzyk's army. After months away from Alberta, they fly their sailing ship into B.C. thinking that they would be safe there. Bad mistake! Izzy is captured. All Will has to do to save her life is turn himself in for a free brain-band fitting appointment. That's what happens when you wear a Zorro costume to a dance.
Assassination Day: Book #3 in the Wilizy Series (May 2082 to September 2082)
A DPS technician offers to defect if the Wilizy will rescue his daughter from The Citadel – some super smart military people who are friends with Zzyk. Izzy thinks that their new recruit is an assassin, but Yollie insists that he's a decent man. Can assassins be decent men? It will take a hair-raising experience to find out.
Hoist the Jolly Lucas: Book #4 in the Wilizy Series (September 2082 to March 2083)
It's bad enough that Zzyk pins the blame for two assassinations on Izzy and launches a full out assault on their home compound. But then, another enemy takes advantage of a security lapse to get revenge for a war that happened 20 years ago. The Wilizy are left reeling with two key members kidnapped and stashed where they can't be found, let alone rescued. For the family to survive, everybody must enter the battle. The story is as much about the past as it is about the present.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Torpedoes: Book #5 in the Wilizy Series (March 2083 to September 2084)
Mac disappears and doesn't want to be found. Will and Wolf use time-travel to search for her and discover secrets she wouldn't want them to know. The Alaskans attack when Will is finding out what happens to a submarine's air when it is lying helpless on the ocean floor. Between the Alaskans' impenetrable fortress and their bubblegum weapons, life is going to get a little sticky for the Wilizy.
Bob, the Invisible Dragon: Book #6 in the Wilizy Series (September 2084 to May 2085)
Raging hormones as well as Raging Gardeners play key roles when young Wilizy warriors are attacked and the Wilizy's scientific marvels offer no protection. The youngsters' future will rely on a different kind of warrior protecting them. Warning: events at the end of the story will move quickly. They certainly won't drag on.
Nary, Nary, Quite Contrary: Book #7 in the Wilizy Series (May 2085 to December 2085)
Theo and Lucas move to Toronto to live on their own. Both meet girls but neither is brave enough to introduce his new friend to the family. They wouldn't have the time anyway, what with villains trying to assassinate them and Voodoo royalty greeting them as though they were Voodoo gods. At the end of the story, Lucas receives a surprise Boxing Day gift that leaves him speechless.
Maddy's a Baddy: Book #8 in the Wilizy Series (December 2085 to May 2086)
Maddy had escaped from Big Momma only to find herself all alone in the cold and begging for food in Eastern Canada. While she's trying to return to her home in Seattle, the Wilizy have their own problems. Everybody in the family is intent on bringing the judge to justice for what he did to Lucas. It would have been so easy for them to rescue Maddy, but they didn't know anything about her.
Bite Me! Book #9 in the Wilizy Series (May 2086 to July 2086)
Spurred on by Marie's desire to eat a meal with her former slave masters, the Wilizy plan to put Safe Haven ranches out of business. In the process, they encounter two foreign assassins intent on abducting Maddy. Theo and Nary become closer but a red-eyed chaperone does not approve. The Wilizy's war with Safe Haven starts with a bang but ends with a whimper.
Wheelchair Moccasins! Book #10 in the Wilizy Series (July 2086 to November 2086)
A 13 year old girl pretends to turn to prostitution to gain her freedom from her crime boss father. In Wilizy family news, Winnie agrees not to meddle in Mathias' love life. No, the world isn't ending, so long as you don't have a green vegetable for your name. Best advice ever? If somebody wearing moccasins and sitting in a wheelchair offers to sing you to sleep... run!
Yes, there'll be an eleventh book in the series.
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About the Author
David J. Wighton is a retired educator who enjoys writing youth novels when he's not on a basketball court coaching middle-school girls. The books in his Wilizy series peek at how people lived after the word's governments colla
psed in the chaos that followed the catastrophic rise in ocean levels and the disappearance of the world's last deposits of oil.
Wighton's novels have strong teenage characters driving the plot and facing challenges that, in many respects, are no different from what teenagers face today. His novels are intended to entertain and readers will find adventure, romance, suspense, humour, a strong focus on family, plus a touch of whimsy. Wighton also writes to provoke a little thought about life in today's societies and what the future might bring. Teachers may find the series useful in the classroom and the novels are priced with that intent in mind.
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