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I nodded at her and then wiped my eyes as I walked back through to the main part of the building again where Professor Ford and the brothers were waiting for me.
“I’ve checked everything, and it’s being loaded onto the plane as we speak,” I said. “It might take them a little longer as they have to adjust for the new passengers.” William chuckled to himself and leaned into Thomas, for they knew that my words were pointed at them.
“Then this is where we part,” Ford said, walking towards me. In lieu of his usual handshake he gave me a big bear hug. “Godspeed Amber. Make us and your parents proud. I know you’ve wanted this for a long time and I know that you’ll put a lot of pressure on yourself, but just keep safe, okay? Remember your training and remember that if anything goes wrong, there’s always a way out. The most important thing is that you keep yourself safe and you get back here in one piece.”
His tone reminded me of a worried father. I nodded and sniffed, surprisingly sad at leaving him. Ford and I had always butted heads over certain matters. In his eyes I was reckless and thoughtless, and in my eyes he was far too bound by red tape and cautious, but when we both had a passion for archeology and these were the times when we shared our common bond.
“Thanks Professor. You’ve taught me a lot, and I know I don’t seem it at times, but I really am grateful that you’ve helped make this trip possible.”
He squeezed my shoulder and then turned to the brothers and shook their hands vigorously. He tossed a glance towards me. “Keep them safe,” he said with a wink. I smiled. I’d try my hardest,
but I couldn’t promise anything. Dragon Island had swallowed up my parents. The same fate might very well await us, but if Thomas and William were willing to put their lives on the line then who was I to stop them?
I left the building and got into a taxi, expecting the brothers to follow me, but they said they had their own car. I watched as they got into a sleek black car that dripped of wealth. I looked at my drab yellow taxi and sighed once more. I wasn’t upset at spending time on my own. I was going to have to spend every waking moment with them soon enough, so these precious few minutes of solitude were something to be cherished. Thankfully, the driver wasn’t one of those who wanted to chat incessantly so I was able to be alone with my thoughts. I leaned my head back, closed my eyes, and as I was so often, I was transported back to that moment when I had last seen my parents alive.
I was at the airport. The rain came crashing down. I was too young to see it as a bad omen then, although my parents didn’t seem to care. Their small plane was waiting for them, looking so vulnerable and spindly in the wake of the thrashing rain. It pattered against our umbrellas and splashed around our feet. Mom bent down and pressed the locket into my palm.
“We’re going to miss you so much, and we’re sorry we can’t take you with us. When you’re older you can,” she said. She always said that and I wondered exactly how old I would have to be to be included in their trips. She kissed me, and although I didn’t realize it at the time, I can see now that her tears mingled with the rain. I breathed in her sweet perfume. I remember being confused. An instinctual part of me knew deep down that this was the last time I was going to see them, and now I hate myself for not shouting it to the heavens, for not doing everything I could to prevent them from going, even though I know nothing could have stopped them.
Mom pressed her lips against my cheek and left a ruby imprint, one that managed to resist being wiped away by the rain. She turned away, a gloved hand covering her mouth, her shoulders shuddering. Dad squeezed her shoulder and whispered something in her ear, one of those whispers that were always so mysterious as a child, as though adults had some secret code that one day we would learn. Dad leaned down and took my hands. He smiled at me. He was always good at acting calm and treating upsetting moments as if they didn’t matter too much, as if everything was going to be alright. He took my small hand and pointed it up at the stars, which were just about visible through the pouring rain and the bleak clouds.
“If you ever get lonely, if you ever start to miss us, just look up at the stars. We’ll be looking up at them too. Even though we’ll be far away we share the same stars, so it’ll be just like we’re in the same place,” he said. He wrapped me up. My cheek pressed against his wet trench-coat.
“I love you my little flame,” he said, the pet name that was only used by him. He took one long look at me, and I wonder now if he had the same feeling as me at the time, as if this was going to be the last time we saw each other. Then, he pressed his fingers to his lips and blew me a kiss. I caught it, as I always did, and pressed it against my heart. Then I watched Mom and Dad disappear into the rain. I was taken away by Grandma to the lobby, watching through the window as the plane’s lights cut through the rain, illuminating the drops so that they looked like falling stars. I squeezed her hand, and I can’t for the life of me remember if I cried or not.
I suppose I must have.
The plane roared as it drove down the runway and then took flight, the rain always battering its wings. I watched it disappear. That was the last time I saw my parents.
“We’re here,” the driver said.
I breathed in deeply and rubbed my eyes, shaking myself loose from the memory. I swallowed my fear and tried to remember that many years had passed. I wasn’t that same girl any longer. Still, I touched my cheek where Mom had left her lipstick. When she’d left, I hadn’t washed it off for days, until Grandma had finally gotten tired and forced it away herself. I’d always resented her for that.
Ford had already taken care of payment so I got out and gathered my luggage, then hauled it through to the airport. There was no sign of the car. Perhaps the brothers had gotten puckish and stopped off for a steak on the way.
The airport was big and a cacophony of sound greeted my ears as I stepped inside. I saw people being reunited, people saying goodbye, I saw expressions of love, and I saw people who were minding their own business. There were people from every walk of life in this place, and it reminded me somewhat of a hospital. It was a unique mingling of joy and sadness, hope and fear. The spectrum of human experience was all contained in this one building, and I wondered where I fell upon it.
I pulled out my documents and went to check in. Unlike regular flights, I didn’t have to wait in a long queue and I was glad that I wouldn’t have to be crammed inside a commercial flight with the general public. I was going where no commercial flight path went, into an unknown part of the world, where only mystery awaited.
My heart hammered in my chest and I took a few sips of water, nervous and excited all at once. I had been dreaming of this moment ever since I was young, ever since I’d learned that my parents weren’t back coming home.
Another memory flashed in my mind.
I was playing with my animals, making new stories for them as I always did. A movie was playing in the background. I can’t remember which one. I was wearing my Fedora, pretending that I was exploring a lost world that was only populated by animals, not humans, and I was trying to convince them that I could keep their secret, for they were afraid that if the outside world ever knew of their existence they would be hunted and captured and put in zoos.
I had come to terms with my parent’s trip. It wasn’t the first time they’d gone away without me, but this would be the longest and I did miss them terribly. It didn’t help that they couldn’t call me or write me a letter. Still, I knew there was nothing I could do about the situation and I could tell that Grandma was getting frustrated with me always getting upset. When I look back on it now, I see that she was probably more frustrated with Mom and Dad for leaving me like this. She was always a traditional woman, and she had always done right by me. She’d wanted me to promise that I wouldn’t go down the same path as my parents. I hated to disappoint her, but I couldn’t ignore the calling in my heart.
She came into my room, standing in the doorway looking like a ghoul. I looked up at her and placed my animals down. That gut feeling of mine told me that something was wrong.
“Amber,” she said, her voice cracking with emotion. She staggered into the room and almost fell. She sat on my bed, looking older than I had ever seen her before. She looked incongruous amongst the posters of skeletons and the models of animals and the archaeological magazines strewn haphazardly around the floor. She looked paler than usual, and the lines on her face were starker. She had a pained expression on her face and every breath trembled through her lips.
“Grandma, what is it?” I asked in a small voice. She had been looking into the distance, gazing at nothing, but when I spoke, she turned at me and I was fearful of what I saw in her eyes.
“It’s your parents,” she gulped. It must have been so hard for her to tell me what happened. Not only had my parents left me to be taken care by her, but they had also left her to deliver this awful, shocking news. “There was…there was an accident, a storm near their destination. The plane was caught in the storm…torn apart. They’re…Amber, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”
She wrapped her arms around me and sobbed. She didn’t have to say the truth outright for me to know that what she meant. My parents were dead. At the time I was numb. I didn’t know how I should feel. How is one supposed to feel? Sad didn’t seem to cover it. I was numb, I was grief-stricken, but I didn’t cry that night. Dad had always told me to be strong, and in that moment, I knew that Grandma needed me more than I needed her.
It was only later that all the emotion poured out of me, when I realized that I would never see them again, when they would neve
