‘He’s a Mountain Spirit.’ Blake explained the mask which covered his face completely. ‘He decided to go with a mystical theme, connected with the Great Creator.’
Channing stepped clear of the crowd into a pool of light. My mind did that hideous slamming-and-splitting-in-two thing and for a second I saw what no one else could see.
Moonlight glows on ice-capped peaks. Men in masks perform a frenzied dance. They raise their arms above their heads, they stamp and howl to the moon.
Finally making it to our group, Channing kept the mask over his face as first Grace confronted him.
‘Channing – we came to see Holly. Do you know where she is?’
‘Still getting ready, I guess.’ Channing’s voice was muffled. You could see only his dark eyes through the slits in the mask – cold and cruel enough for me to be reminded of the last time I’d seen him, leaping out of Ziegler’s car to grab Jarrold. And I remembered him before that, leaning over a semi-conscious, half-naked Holly in the blizzard shelter by the lake, kissing her on the lips.
As my head stopped spinning and I recovered from my vision, I took another look around and ended up with my attention drawn back to the screen. I saw the dark head of the girl desperately swimming through white-water rapids. The head bobbed up and down then suddenly disappeared beneath the rushing water, as if a strong hand had gripped her from below. A submerged camera filmed her sinking, twisted and towed by currents, her hands stretched out, face turned towards the light.
‘If Holly is the reason you’re all here, let me go check where she is,’ Channing offered, pushing his way towards the exit without waiting for a response.
‘She’ll show up soon, no problem,’ I reassured Aaron, who looked as if he wanted to follow Channing out of the building and punch him senseless. Still I kept sneaking glances at the giant screen to see if the drowning girl was saved.
‘Come and get a drink?’ Kaylee offered, taking Jude and Grace towards a bar set up in the area with the couches, the bear rug and open log fire.
This left Aaron, Orlando and me with Marta and Ava. Blake and Regan had already drifted off to talk to other people.
‘I guess Aurelie and Jean-Luc will show up soon?’ I asked.
‘With Antony,’ Marta confirmed. ‘I love your costumes. Aurelie chose the party theme. She’s good at this stuff, huh?’
Chit-chat, chit-chat. I realize I’m in danger of making this party sound everyday and unexciting. It was, until you recalled what went before, where we were and the fact that my dark angel was lurking. Plus, I reminded myself, we were still at the very start – guests arriving, Explorers showing up in fancy dress, music playing, a movie showing.
And I want to go back to the cross between a mask and a hood that Channing had been wearing. It looked antique – the genuine thing, and was made of some type of soft fabric – maybe even a dark-stained buckskin – that completely covered his head like a Ku Klux Klan hood without the point. Or like an executioner’s hood. And the crown on top was shaped like a fan with spokes around ten centimetres tall. It was painted with a pattern of diamonds, triangles and circles in blue, red and white. Marta said he was a Mountain Spirit – obviously something to be afraid of and bow down to, not a Weyekin or anything you would want as a spirit ally.
It turned out Channing wasn’t the only one who had gone down the spiritual route. I soon spotted half a dozen figures dressed in long fringed shirts embroidered with stars and black eagles. They were gathered in a small circle in the centre of the room.
‘Ghost Dancers,’ my interpreter, Marta, explained. ‘It was after the white men took over. They danced all night and day to bring back their lost world, to see the buffalo again, to meet their ancestors. They thought that dancing until they fell exhausted on to the earth was what it took.’
‘Did it work out?’ Orlando asked.
Marta shrugged. ‘What do you think? Eventually they got wiped out by soldiers at Wounded Knee.’
‘How come Antony Amos is into all this old stuff?’ Aaron kept talking to disguise the fact that he was growing more on edge by the minute. His nerves were strung out, waiting for his first chance to see Holly and talk to her, while my own stomach was in knots wondering if, after all, Jarrold would appear. I stared hard at the Ghost Dancers, thinking that he might be amongst them, then at the group gathered with Kaylee, Jude and Grace by the bar.
I had no luck spotting him so I turned back to the onscreen action. By this time the drowning girl had sunk into an underwater cave. Her eyes were open but she looked dead. Eerie music – mainly drums and steel guitar – played on the soundtrack.
Then suddenly the images faded as the lights in the room brightened and the guests of honour walked in through the main door.
Aurelie led the way looking spectacular in a long white skirt and fringed tunic embroidered in blue. Her short black hair was tucked behind her ears and she wore hooped silver earrings. Jean-Luc was next, also dressed in white, with a sky-blue neckerchief and a broad blue belt – following the party theme but looking ill at ease. I decided straight away that he was only here because his sister had put pressure on him. Third came Richard Ziegler, looking as if he’d reverted to his young days as a stuntman and body double, stripped to the waist, with his torso and face streaked with red and black paint, looking stunning and sinister.
He came ahead of the guest of honour, Antony himself, who wore a simple, black collarless shirt and black trousers. He smiled and walked, attracting every gaze in the room, basking in the attention.
I glanced at the screen and took in some last, fading images of the drowned girl.
She glides between black rocks, her pale face glows amongst skulls and bones. She is me again. She has my face, my long dark hair.
Water fills her lungs, air bubbles from the corner of her mouth. She prays in the church with ghosts, with Conner. The waterlogged walls shake, the praying skeletons disintegrate and float away. The walls cave inwards, the steeple comes crashing down.
My visions were back with a vengeance and I realized how hard I had grasped Orlando’s hand as Antony Amos came into the room.
Aurelie’s party plan was in full swing. On screen the movie was over and there was now a video compilation of various musicians and singers – all favourites of her stepfather’s from the seventies and eighties. They turned up the volume, cleared a central space and we watched people start to dance, only a few at first, until Aurelie came round and drew people on to the floor. She had Jean-Luc in tow, and when she came to where I was standing with Aaron and Orlando, she smiled her charming smile and said she was sure Orlando wouldn’t mind if I danced with her brother, because after all he was leaving for Paris in two days’ time. Before I knew it I was in a clinch, slow-dancing with Jean-Luc and she was in a dark corner with Orlando, hand-gesturing, explaining something, always smiling.
‘So, Tania,’ Jean-Luc began as we turned on the spot in the middle of the crowded floor. His white shirt stood out in the dim, multi-coloured light, his cheeks were smoothly shaved and he smelled good. ‘How did the wild walking turn out for you?’
‘Interesting,’ I replied cagily. ‘After a day or two I kind of got it.’
He smiled. ‘You connected with the spirit of the place?’
‘Maybe.’
‘You bonded with your band?’
‘Again, maybe.’
‘Some members more than others?’ Jean-Luc asked with his knowing smile. ‘So tell me – how was Jarrold?’
If I was cagey before, this question made me totally clam up. ‘Jarrold was Jarrold,’ I muttered. No way would I tell Jean-Luc that The Outsider had got too close and declared his feelings for me.
‘He’s unique, for sure.’ Steering me to the edge of the dance floor, Jean-Luc took my hand and led me outside. ‘Walking in the sight of the Great Creator with Jarrold is quite an experience. Did you know that practically every girl who walks in the wilderness with him comes back head over heels in love, despite the fact that
our guiding principles forbid it?’
‘No!’ I gave a self-conscious laugh. ‘Does he come with a health warning?’
‘But apparently not you, Tania. You escaped with your heart in one piece?’ Jean-Luc’s tone was light but his gaze was pretty intense out there under a moonlit sky.
‘The snow clouds cleared,’ I murmured, looking up at the stars. There was a pause and then I said, ‘I’m sorry you’re leaving.’
‘You know how it is. I don’t do well here. I prefer the city.’
‘Aurelie says she will miss you like crazy.’
‘She’s my twin. We’ve always been close,’ he admitted. ‘But I live my own life. I knew I wouldn’t stay here at New Dawn, even before my mother died.’
‘So what will you do in Paris?’
‘Play piano, go to college and study music, lots of things. You can visit me if you like.’
‘Cool.’ We’d wandered from the social centre along a track between more braziers, right to the water’s edge, where we watched the reflection of the moon and stars in the lake. The conversation drifted as always through topics we both enjoyed – art galleries, video installations, European culture in general – until Ziegler strode down to the lake shore and interrupted us.
‘Jean-Luc, your stepfather wants you to dance with one of the guests from Bitterroot,’ he snapped, plainly ignoring me.
‘Tell him later.’ Jean-Luc turned his back on the messenger to lead me further along the frozen shore.
‘Now,’ Ziegler insisted. Light and shadow from a nearby brazier played over his face and toned torso. His eyes were narrowed; he stood hands on hips.
My companion sighed. ‘You want to know why I’m leaving, Tania? This is why,’ he confided with a sullen jerk of his head towards Ziegler. He spoke so that only I could hear. ‘This is the way it is at New Dawn.’
And the two guys left me, their feet crunching through the snow. I breathed in the night air and followed more slowly, deciding as I went that I quickly needed to rejoin Orlando and together we would team up with Grace, Jude and Aaron. It was time we tracked Holly down, no question.
Then, as if all this was scripted and he was right on cue, Jarrold made one of his entrances out of nowhere. He stepped out from behind a basket of burning logs – out of the darkness into the flickering red light, his face cut and bruised.
I stopped, turned around, looked for help. Fifty metres from where we stood, the social centre with its flickering, multi-coloured lights was noisy and buzzing. Out here in the dark, no one could see or hear us.
Small waves rippled and washed against the pebbles. Tall, dark juniper trees stood sentry on the hillside.
‘Come with me,’ Jarrold said.
15
He took me up through the deep shadows cast by the trees towards the cabin he shared with Channing at the end of the trail. ‘Don’t try running back to the party,’ he warned. ‘And don’t be scared, I’m not going to hurt you.’
‘OK, but I still don’t trust you.’ I made this clear as I tried to figure out what Jarrold wanted. The fact that he wasn’t in costume confirmed my guess that he’d been excluded from the party.
‘What did I do? Why are you pushing me away?’
I thought of Orlando dancing with Aurelie back in the social centre and I managed to stand firm. ‘You know what you did – breaking into my house, the stupid note. I never invited you into my life, you just stormed in. So let’s go ahead and get this over with. Tell me what you want.’ I shivered in the cold wind that blew down the valley.
With a quick toss of his head and a clicking sound with his tongue, Jarrold strode on. ‘I have something to tell you – something you need to know.’
‘Stop right there!’ If this was more about the way he felt towards me, another chance to get me alone, he’d better know I wasn’t about to play his game. ‘Orlando’s here. He’s in there with Aurelie.’
‘Scary!’ He turned and laughed in my face. ‘I’ve seen your guy, Tania. What does he weigh – 160, 170 pounds? Do you seriously believe he would want to fight with me?’
Angrily I turned to head back down the hillside but he grabbed my arm and pulled me back so that I had a close-up view of the swelling on his bottom lip and the cut under his right eye. ‘OK, so I have feelings for you and I always will – you already know that. But don’t think of me as some loser who goes down on his knees and comes crying after you more than once.’
‘So what is this about?’ I said, not knowing whether to believe him but wrenching my wrist free and rubbing my skin where his fingers had gripped me.
‘Things have moved on. I know now I can’t get out of here just by walking away. They’ll come after me wherever I run. Have you any idea how that feels?’
‘Actually, I do,’ I answered quietly. Running was one of my specialities.
Jarrold acknowledged my confession by a slight, conspiratorial raising of his eyebrows. ‘So now I’ve changed tactics – I want to dish the dirt, dig deep and really expose what goes on here.’
‘And I’m going to help you go public?’ I shook my head in disbelief.
‘Yeah, you are! If it’s not you, Tania, who else? It’s not going to be Kaylee or Regan or any of those guys. They’re victims of the system too, just as much as me, but they know they have to keep their heads down and serve their time without complaining. If not, they end up the way I am now.’
‘Try Jean-Luc,’ I suggested. ‘He hates the place as much as you do.’
Jarrold nodded. ‘You’re right, but Amos is his stepfather so there’s family loyalty in the mix. Plus, he doesn’t have the guts. No – you’re the only one, Tania.’
‘So what is it you want people to know?’ Gradually my shock and anger died away and Jarrold and I were sharing confidences. He was starting to get through again.
‘This!’ he cried, facing me and pointing to his damaged face. ‘Plus, the whole deal – the brainwashing, the psychological BS, the dropping your burden at the gate, heart at peace shit.’
‘The Great Creator?’
‘All of that. Amos built this whole community on a lie.’ Jarrold had raised his voice and tilted his head back in exasperation. It exposed his Adam’s apple and the muscles in his neck. ‘You have to tell it like it really is – that they call it therapy but it’s not. It’s Ziegler controlling every move we make, Amos spouting spiritual stuff that no one believes.’
‘What else? Tell me – I’m listening.’
Jarrold’s voice softened to not much more than a whisper. ‘It’s sticking the Outsider label on to you, taking away your clothes at night, keeping you here until they break you. And listen to me, Tania – did they tell you about New Dawn PCS?’
‘No. What’s that?’ The urgency in Jarrold’s eyes was making the hairs on my neck stand up.
‘PCS – Positive Control System. Quote from the Guiding Principles; “If talking doesn’t lead to compliance, it is legitimate to employ appropriate physical force.” Unquote.’
‘“Appropriate physical force” – what does that mean exactly?’
‘This!’ Springing forward, Jarrold seized my wrist a second time and bent it back with a sharp, strong movement.
‘Ouch!’ I caved in and let him force my captured arm behind my back, bending my elbow so that my fingertips touched my shoulder. ‘Let go of me, Jarrold.’
‘Or this!’ Moving smoothly behind me, he put an arm lock around my neck. ‘Or this!’ Releasing me a second time, he stepped back across my path and aimed a karate kick at my stomach, missing by not much more than a centimetre. ‘It’s any type of physical force – including what you saw early this morning.’
‘Stop!’ I raised my hands to my ears. ‘I’ve heard enough.’
Jarrold stepped back and let out a long sigh. Then he stood arms by his side, staring at me as if he was a prisoner in the dock waiting for a verdict.
‘OK, I believe you,’ I whispered.
His eyes lit up and he sprang forward. ‘You’ll
do it? You’ll bring the walls crashing down around Amos?’
‘No, wait. Listen. I can’t. Not until we achieve what we came here to do.’
A wind moaned through the trees, branches creaked. ‘What is that exactly?’ Jarrold asked, eyes still gleaming earnestly, a frown knotting his forehead.
‘To rescue Holly,’ I whispered, turning away from him and walking quickly down the hill.
I got away from Jarrold and back to the party in time to see the Ghost Dancers lead the guests out from the social centre on to the lake shore. In the light of the braziers they formed a circle with a drummer in the middle and began to move in slow, rhythmic steps, red flames reflected in the shining silver stars which decorated their tunics.
‘How cool is that!’ a voice said from the shadows.
I turned and at last I saw the girl we’d come looking for.
‘Holly!’ It took me a while to recognize her because her long fair hair was scraped back and her face half hidden by a white mask that covered her eyes. But when I saw Channing in his executioner’s mask lurking behind, I knew it was her.
‘The dancers,’ she said, as if we were bumping into each other at the tennis club or at the end of our driveways. ‘They’re stepping into the past, searching for their ancestors who lived here by Prayer River, before the lake was made.’
‘Holly!’ I cried. ‘At last! We’ve been looking everywhere. Where have you been?’
‘Here,’ she told me. ‘Where else?’
‘Whoa, it’s good to see you!’ As the dancers circled and began to whirl on the spot, raising a chant and watched by around fifty guests, I felt a rush of relief. ‘You look fantastic. I love your costume!’
‘Mexican Indian,’ she explained. ‘They wore this type of cotton toga tied at one shoulder, with masks or veils, fans made of feathers. Actually, they put silver rings through their noses but I didn’t go that far.’
‘No really, it’s good to see you,’ I repeated. ‘You wouldn’t believe how we stressed over you – the hypothermia and all.’