ANGELS AND GHOSTS

The Discovery

Forty minutes later, Rachael recognised the spot, and she pulled onto the gravel and stepped out of the car. As she straightened and stretched, a whisper of a breeze flowed past her and subtly encouraged her golden hair to dance in subdued flotation, then she watched as her passenger awkwardly pulled herself out of her seat. Rachael gazed to her right, and she was almost certain that this was the spot; this was where she had seen a leg jutting out of a ditch more than six months ago, and the leg belonged to her passenger. Rachael realised that returning to the scene of the incident had been a mistake, because simply being here aroused a collection of freaky memories. There was every possibility that she had saved Mia Coombes’ life on that night, although she knew that she wouldn’t have stopped on that fateful night if it hadn’t of been for a strange hovering light. Rachael didn’t need or want complications disrupting her fairly organised life, and these weren’t minor complications, they were freaky complications. She was certain that she had seen a large hovering ball of light, and now the person whose life she had possibly saved was hearing voices in her dreams. And the image in the woman’s dreams was this particular spot of the expansive forest, right where they were standing.

For Rachael, this day was like going to the dentist. Instead of watching her favourite bits from Game Of Thrones, instead of watching people getting fucked or killed (she liked replaying the insertion of either dicks or knives, and she also liked the clever lines that preceded most of the insertions) she was going to waste an afternoon staring at a ditch.

Rachael gazed left and right, then she strolled over and stood by the ditch as she mumbled, “Round about here I think.”

Mia ambled over and stood next to her.

“You, you were in there.” Rachael said quietly.

Mia stared at the ditch, not really focussed, because her focus was already behind her.

Rachael saw her turn away, and she rubbed her brow. “There’s not really much to see …” Rachael began as she turned to her, then she raised her eyebrows as she saw Mia staring across the road, her hands rubbing her thighs.

“Mia…”

No answer.

“Mia, you okay?”

Trance-like, Mia walked over to the other side of the road and stopped, her focus on the forest.

Rachael slothed up beside her and asked, “You okay?”

Staring, hands rubbing …

“Mia?”

Staring into the forest, Mia stood with her hands by her side, motionless, like a statue.

Rachael put a hand on her shoulder, and Mia jumped at the contact.

“Ohhh, sorry!”

Wide-eyed, Mia looked at her, then directed her gaze back to the forest.

Rachael just wanted to get whatever they were doing, done, so she moved in front of her, pointing to the other side of the road as she said, “Mia, it happened over there.”

Like the zombie in the end-of-the-world movie, Mia slowly swung her gaze to her, and Rachael was un-nerved by the intensity in her eyes.

“It, it happened over there, on the other side.” Rachael mumbled.

The gaze swung back to the forest, and Rachael stiffened as Mia stepped awkwardly over the ditch, then seemed to be struggling as she placed a leg on the embankment.

“Can you help me?”

Rachael shook her head, “What?”

“Can, can you help me get up?”

Rachael hopped over the ditch and fronted her, pointing to the other side of the road as she said, “It happened over there, on the other side.”

The zombie-stare, right at her, or through her; until Mia asked, “Can you help me up?”

Rachael jumped up the embankment then offered her hand, then pulled Mia up.

Mia closed her eyes as her face bowed, and she was severely unsettled, although she had no idea why she felt so tentative.

Rachael skimmed a hand through her hair and asked quietly, “What, what’s going on?’

Mia looked at Rachael, then at the road, then she looked to the Heavens, then she closed her eyes as she felt … something. It was like a tingle, or a request, or an engagement. Mia bit her bottom lip as she thought worryingly, What, what’s happening to me …

It wasn’t the voice, it was a presence, or an un-formed image, and bizarrely, she could sense something, or someone standing behind the billowing clouds of confusion in her mind. Rattled, Mia snapped her eyes open, her breathing suddenly heavy and erratic as she stared into the dense forest.

Bewildered, alarmed by the deranged look in Mia’s eyes, Rachael stood in front of her and mumbled, “Mia, what’s going on?”

Mia was aware that tears were dribbling down her cheeks as she turned and faced the woman. A question had been asked, yet Mia had no answer to give her. She wiped the tears away with the right wrist-cuff of her jacket, then she muttered, “I, I’m sorry, I’m not sure.”

Rachael’s non-working life was pretty simple; just do stuff that you want to do, although this Nut-Bag, with her zombie stares, voices in her mind, and hands rubbing her thighs, was really starting to piss her off. “So what are you going to do?” Rachael asked tentatively.

A zombie stare, and instead of answering, Mia began walking into the forest.

Huffing, Rachael tucked her hands in her pockets and ambled after her.

Occasionally, Mia would stop, stare, looking at trees, looking at the ground, then she’d continue forward.

As they continued deeper into the forest, Rachael had a strange thought. Maybe this woman had lured her into the forest with the intention of killing her. Maybe one of Mia’s doctors had told her, You have a fucked-up brain because that person shouldn’t have moved you!

Already they were two hundred yards from the road, and out of sight. The State National Forest had more than two dozen designated walking tracks between Middleton and Bassington, although Rachael knew that they weren’t anywhere near any of them. As she followed Mia deeper into the forest, towering trees were everywhere, the trees so dense in a few spots that the trees plumage blocked out the sun, and the ground was almost like a carpet of dried leaves and fallen twigs. Rachael shook her head, dismissing the thought. Even for an amateur would-be-murderer, there were too many flaws in the project. Rachael had been to the woman’s unit twice in two days, had picked her up from the unit this very morning, and somebody would have seen Mia getting into her car. Mia’s phone records would also show two phone calls to Rachael’s number, and anyway, with five years of martial arts training behind her, Rachael could take down a twitchy, hobbling woman before she had time to blink.

The deeper they moved into the forest though, the more hesitant Rachael became. “Mia, where you going?”

No answer, Mia stopping, looking, then moving off again, as if being led.

They entered a clearing, and Mia stopped at a tree, staring at it.

With hands in her pockets and her shoulders hunched, Rachael waited.

Mia stepped forward uncertainly and touched the tree, a few slithers of decaying bark falling to the ground as she ran her right hand up and down the trunk.

“Mia?”

Mia pushed forward and leant against the tree, closing her eyes as she felt … something.

Rachael shook her head in bewilderment as Mia leant against the towering tree, and then she embraced it, her arms wrapping around it.

Mia shivered. The something wasn’t good, although she felt that it was important. It wasn’t the voice, it was a feeling, or an awareness, or an awakening. Concerned and confused, Mia needed guidance, so she whispered, “What, I don’t understand.”

Her eyes snapped open as she became aware of the tiny footsteps in her mind, the footsteps causing her brow to throb, and she moaned, “No, no please.”

Rachael heard her, “You okay?”

With her hands braced against the tree, Mia bowed her head, trying to cool her mind, trying to delay the march, and she saw something. Awkwardly, she knelt by the tree and picked up an object, a piece of rope, and studied it. A quarter inch cotton rope, the rope being almost seven feet in length. The rope was an aged dirty grey colour, and it was seriously fraying in spots.

Rachael saw her pick something up, so she moved up beside her. “What is it?”

Wincing, Mia looked at her, then showed her the rope.

“It’s a bit of rope.” Rachael said, feeling like a bit of a dick for having stated the obvious.

With an ominous throb beginning, Mia shivered, then she asked meekly, “W-why is the rope here?”

Rachael gritted her teeth … For fucks sake … “Somebody left it here maybe,” Rachael offered, then she added, “It’s just a bit of rope.”

Mia looked at the tree, then the rope, and alarmingly, the footsteps were getting louder in her brain; louder and heavier. Mia was confused, and also anxious, because she was aware that a migraine was threatening. She closed her eyes and rubbed her brow with her left hand, the rope still tightly gripped in her right hand as she whimpered, “Please don’t …”

Confused and also getting annoyed, Rachael asked, “Sorry?”

No footsteps now, knocking, solid knocking, the knocking even more threatening, and Mia pushed herself up, grimaced, rubbed her brow, turned shakily, looking, the rope in her hand, a dam about to burst in her mind, but something here, something important here, so she swung her head to the left, then the right; the sudden cranial movements causing her mind to fizz, almost like her mind was a shaken soda can readying itself to explode. She stumbled through the clearing, lurched past a small cluster of trees and then fell to her knees, panting, knowing, just knowing that an invasion was coming. “Ra-Rachael …”

Rachael raced up to her, “What?”

With her eyes closed and her teeth gritted, Mia pointed and huffed out, “R-rocks.”

Rachael looked at the rocks, fifty, sixty or more rocks of varying sizes packed together behind a cluster of trees. “What, what is it?” Rachael asked timidly.

On her knees, Mia leant back and grimaced, the fizzing getting serious, her brow pounding, although the billowing mass of clouds in her mind slowly clearing, and then Mia tensed as the voice, a voice she knew so well, floated into her mind … Hello …

A BIG migraine was pounding on her door, although three words snuck through the inevitable carnage, Yes, I’m here … Mia received the message, then suddenly, everything changed, everything fell apart, and she screamed in agony as her brain fizzed and exploded.

Stunned, Rachael squatted beside her and grabbed her shoulders, “What, what’s the matter?”

Being attacked, being razed, Mia spluttered, “Hand, hand-bag, get my hand-bag!”

“Mia, I don’t understand-”

“Please!” she screamed, “Get, get my hand-bag.”

Rachael raced back through the forest, jumped over the ditch, crossed the road, then reached into the car and grabbed the handbag. By the time she got back to her, Mia was lying on the ground, curled up into the foetal position, both hands plastered over her brow as she sobbed in pain.

“Mia, Mia, I’ve got your hand-bag!”

Mia shivered, wincing, “Pills, pills.”

Rachael rifled through the bag and pulled out a small plastic container, then pulled Mia up into a sitting position. Shakily, Rachael opened the container and tapped it into her hand, two small white pills spilling out, one sliding off her hand and hitting the ground, the other one she put in Mia’s mouth.

Trembling, shivering Mia pulled the bottle of water out of her handbag and had a gulp, then panted, “One, one more.”

A pill, a gulp of water, then Mia collapsed on the ground again, her arms wrapped around her chest as she shuddered with the pain.

Rachael skimmed a hand over Mia’s brow, whispering, “Try and relax Mia, breathe in then out.”

Fifteen minutes later, Rachael pulled her into a sitting position and nestled her face into her chest as she gently skimmed a hand over the back of her skull.

Mia closed her eyes and pushed in tighter, wrapping her right arm around Rachael, knowing that it had subsided, although she was still shattered by the mental destruction it had caused.

“You okay?”

“Hmmm, it’s passed.” Mia sighed.

“What’s passed?”

“I, I suffer migraines, acute migraines.”

Rachael felt the guilt seeping into her mind, and she said quietly, “Maybe I should get you home.”

Mia didn’t want to move, didn’t want to lose the comfort of the embrace. “Can I, can I have a few more minutes?”

“Sure.” Rachael replied as she kissed the top of her head.

Mia eventually pushed away, and with her cheeks stained with tears, she looked up and whispered, “Thank-you.”

Rachael smiled and delicately wiped the lingering tears away, then she picked the small twigs out of Mia’s hair.

“Rachael…”

“What?”

“The rocks.”

Rachael glanced at them, the rocks haphazardly stacked in an oblong shape. Twenty feet to their left, a boulder jutted out of the ground and a collection of rocks sat at its base. “They probably came from that boulder.” Rachael suggested.

Mia gazed at the boulder, then swung her gaze back to the stacked rocks and mumbled, “It looks like someone put these ones here.”

“Maybe this used to be a boulder too, and it just crumbled over the years.”

Mia stared at the rope she still had clutched in her right hand, then she looked at the stacked rocks.

Rachael understood Mia’s unspoken opposition to the statement, and she asked, “Do you want me to clear the rocks away?”

Mia wasn’t sure what she wanted, because the three words lingered. She didn’t want Rachael to think she was crazy, but the voice, a voice that she was so familiar with, somehow had acknowledged her presence. Or connected with her.

Connected with her while she was awake.

Mia rubbed her brow, so confused, although she knew that she had to be decisive. Someone, or something, needed her help, and maybe Rachael would think she was a freak, but the voice …

Timidly, she mumbled, “Rachael…”

“What?”

Mia took a moment to think about her next statement, because she sensed that it was like stepping over to the other side. If she said the statement, the statement, or the idea, or the ideal, or, or… the prophesy, would then be alive, and there would be no turning back. Mia didn’t want Rachael to think that she was crazy, but maybe that wasn’t even important anymore, because someone or something wanted her help. Mia lowered her gaze and closed her eyes, then said shakily, “I, I think she’s here.”

“Who’s here?”

Mia felt the tears sliding down her cheeks as she looked at her and said, “I heard the voice, and, and, she said …”

Rachael waited, then shook her head, “Said what?”

Mia’s face bowed as she replied, “She said that she’s here.”

Rachael gazed at the rope still clutched in Mia’s hand, and she looked at the stacked rocks, then she dropped to her knees and started tossing the rocks away.

Mia moved next to her, and joined in.

On their knees, they tossed the rocks away, and Rachael took a moment to think about her current situation. She was kneeling next to a staring-zombie woman who heard voices in her mind, tossing rocks left and right, and they were right in the middle of a part of the forest that had no walking tracks. “Fuck this.” Rachael mumbled. Time to go, time to leave, so Rachael faced her, although she saw Mia pause as she picked up a hand-sized rock.

“Rachael…”

“What?”

Mia pointed.

Rachael tossed a few smaller rocks away, and then looked at it, something glinting. Rachael brushed soil off the object, and caught in a moment of surrealism, they both stared at it.

Mia crouched over and curled her right index finger under the object and pulled it free. With the object dangling from Mia’s finger, they both looked at it; a bracelet.

Mia blew soil off the bracelet, put the bracelet in her pocket, then leant over and started digging again.

Rachael sighed dejectedly, then joined her, scooping her hands under the dirt and tossing it away. The rocks had acted as an incubation system, and the soil was damp and easy to scoop up, Rachael shovelling until …

“Ohhh!” Mia gasped as she fell back onto her buttocks.

“What?”

With her eyes opened as wide as they could be, Mia pointed.

Something sticking up.

Rachael gently levered her hand under the object, and slowly it appeared, then both women stared at it.

Mia was trembling as she asked, “Is that, is that …”

Rachael shook her head, initially in denial, then in disbelief.

Sticking up, jutting out …

Whatever this was about, it was out of her skill set, so Rachael pushed up and then reached for Mia’s hand, “Come on, let’s go.”

Mia shook her head, “We can’t go, that could be a …”

Shell-shocked, Rachael coaxed her to her feet and then faced her. “This is no longer your concern Mia, this a matter for the police.”

In a delirium of confusion, Mia asked, “Do you think it could be a, a …”

Rachael glanced at the dirty bone sticking up, thought about the bracelet, then she said blandly, “Whatever it is, we need to get the police involved.” Frazzled, un-nerved, Rachael stated firmly, “Come on!”

Mia shivered, then shuffled after Rachael.

Back at the car, Rachael studied the part of the forest they had entered, committing the defining features to her memory. She would’ve loved to have just driven away and forgotten about this, but no, this wasn’t a should I, or shouldn’t I? situation; a bracelet discovered, a bone sticking up, and a freaking Zombie-Woman who had stumbled into this clearing.

She set the tripmeter and then started the car.

The sun had almost disappeared by the time Rachael dropped Mia home.

Mia undid her seat belt, then rubbed her hands over her thighs as she asked quietly, “What are you going to do?”

“I know a cop, and I’ll speak to him.”

Mia was still rattled by the discovery, her mind racing at a million miles an hour, which wasn’t good. An over-active, racing mind sometimes led to a crippling migraine, and she knew that she had to get inside and lie down. Grimacing, she puffed out, “Let me know if anything happens.”

“Sure.” Rachael nodded.

Mia stepped out of the car and began to hobble away.

Rachael frowned. The exercise had supposedly been to take the woman out to the scene of the accident, but it had developed into something entirely different. On the silent trip home, Rachael couldn’t stop thinking about it. It was almost like Mia had been led to the tree, then she saw the rope, then the rocks. Or maybe she hadn’t been led, maybe she knew about them all along. Confused and pissed off, Rachael called out, “Mia!”

Mia halted, and began walking back, coming to a stop by the driver’s door.

Rachael got out and faced her, “I don’t get it, I don’t understand any of this.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well you said that you see that part of the forest in your dreams, then we go out there, and you find the rope and then you stumbled onto the rocks, so it was almost like someone was leading you to that place, or else …”

Mia didn’t know why, but she felt guilty, and she mumbled, “Or else what?”

Rachael looked straight into her eyes as she replied, “Or else you knew what you were looking for.”

Mia lowered her gaze as she pieced it together. The entry point to that part of the forest was in her nightly dreams, so Mia knew that she had to see the spot; then on stumbling into the clearing, the voice, for the very first time came into her mind in her waking hours, Yes, I’m here … Mia thought about it from Rachael’s point of view, and her face bowed as the guilt multiplied. Come this way Rachael, turn here, let’s go about a half mile in, follow me … ohhh look, a tree … and hey, I found some rope, and just follow me over here, because those stacked rocks look mighty suspicious!

“That’s, that’s the first time I’ve ever been in the forest.” Mia whispered.

Rachael didn’t want to blow up at this obviously fucked up chick, but things were pounding in her mind, and she glared at her as she asked, “Okay, well help me here; how did you know where to go? Like what, did this mysterious voice lead you to that place?”

Mia noted the different inflection when she said, mysterious, the inflection almost in a mocking tone. “I told you, I heard the voice and it said, Yes, I’m here.”

Still staring at her, rattled, rocks and bones in her mind; Rachael puffed out, “Well I didn’t hear any voice.”

“Okay, well maybe I didn’t hear it, maybe it was more like I was aware of it or conscious of it.”

Totally un-nerved, Rachael unconsciously adopted her aggressive hands-on hips stance, then she spat out, “Funny thing Mia, that forest is huge, I mean who knows how many hundreds of thousands of hectares it covers, and you just happen to stumble into a clearing where there appears to be some kind of a grave with bones in it.”

Mia began to tremble, and Rachael could see the tears welling in her eyes, so she shook her head and said, “Mia, wait, I’m not accusing you, it’s just that this is a total mind-fuck.”

With the footsteps jitter-bugging in her mind, Mia felt as if she was being attacked from every angle, and she bowed her face and mumbled, “I’m sorry.”

Rachael hung her head, shook her hair back, then embraced her. “God, shit, I’m the one who’s sorry.” She nestled Mia’s face into her shoulder and patted her on the back, “You’re probably just as rattled by this as I am.”

Mia wiped the tears away and faced her as she said quietly, “I think I need to go and lie down.”

“Are you okay, do you want me to sit with you for a while?” Rachael asked as she rubbed a hand over Mia’s shoulder.

“No, I’ll be okay.”

With her gaze to the ground, Mia began walking off, then she stopped. After drawing in a breath, she said timidly, “Rachael, I’m sorry that I got you mixed up in this, because …”

Rachael waited, then prompted her, “Because what?”

Mia turned to face her as she said nervously, “I, I think that might be her; that might be the girl in my dreams.”

An awkward silence followed until Mia turned and began walking away.

“Call me if you need to speak to me.” Rachael said as she watched her hobble away.

*

Conflicted with four different kinds of confusion, Rachael rolled one and drew back.

Today, this day was easily winning the award for the most fucked up day she’d had in more than eight years. The brain-injury woman skulked around, sometimes impersonating a zombie, her movements rigid and static, her eyes glazed over in an un-nerving manner. A brain-injury chick was allowed to act all fucked-up, so that was cool; it was just the statement, I think she’s here … and then the un-nerving discovery; a bone.

Rachael was no doctor, although the length and width of the bone could mean that it was a leg bone, all the same, deer were known to roam around this forest, so it could have been an animal bone. Rachael drew in and blew out, shaking her head, “No, not a deer.”

Deer were supposedly quite intelligent creatures, although Rachael knew that they hadn’t refined their skills to the level where they buried their loved ones in a grave, and then placed the deer’s favourite bracelet in the grave, then the commiserating deer got their hooves working as they covered the grave with rocks.

Rachael reached for her cell, located a number, was just about to press call, when she shook her head. Fucked-up phone calls shouldn’t happen on her everyday cell, so she went to her wardrobe and pulled out the right knee-length leather boot, then shook her business cell out of it.

“Brocksley Police Station, how may I help you?”

“Hi, is Officer Jamieson working today?”

“Yes he is; can I tell him who’s calling?”

“Rachael Terina.”

A moment later, “Rach?”

“Hi Mark.”

“Ummm, didn’t we agree on Wednesday night?”

“Yes, but I’ve got a bit of a problem and I need a favour.”

“A favour?”

“I heard a whisper that there may a body out in the forest.”

“A body, whereabouts?”

“Maybe ten miles out of Middleton.”

“Who told you this?”

“Look, first up, I want nothing to do with this, I’ll tell you where it is, then you get your people to check it out.”

“Actually, if you have information, you’ll need to come in and we’ll do a report and then follow it up.”

“No, that’s not going to happen. I’m ringing you to tell you about it, and then that’s the end of my involvement.”

“Rach, nahh, we need a statement, or we need someone to report it in before we can do anything.”

“No you don’t, you can say that someone reported this anonymously.”

Silence, until Mark asked, “Are you on your cell?”

“Yes.”

“Rach, your number will be logged into our records, so unfortunately, you’ve involved yourself already.”

“Don’t worry about that, just say that you received an anonymous tip, and you think it should be investigated.”

“No, that’s what I’m saying; when I do a report, I’ll have to record the time, and then it will be linked back to your number, and yeah, if the information turns out to be correct, you’ll be getting a knock on the door.”

Rachael puffed out in frustration and said, “This isn’t my cell okay, so stop worrying about that. If you have to do a report, sure, use this number, but the main thing is that you need to get out there and check it out.”

“How do you know it’s a body?”

“Well it’s not actually a body, I mean it’s bones, and the bones were seen in a shallow grave, so this anonymous person is thinking that it could be you know, human remains.”

“Who is this anonymous person?”

Rachael sighed and said, “Mark, can you do me a favour?”

“What?”

“Just get out there and check it out!”

“Rachael-”

“Mark,” she interrupted. “Stop pissing me off or else I’ll hang up! Now here’s the details; once you pass the Middleton boundary, it’s about ten miles out.”

“On Cribb Highway?”

“Yes; so ten miles out, actually 10.3 miles out, and it’s on the western side-”

“10.3 miles out?” Mark interrupted, “How do you know that?”

Rachael clenched her teeth and said sternly, “Mark, it is 10.3 miles out, it’s on the western side and it’s about six hundred yards in, so I’ll hang up and let you get out there.”

“You seem to have pretty precise details about where it is.”

Rachael huffed, “Goodbye, I’ll see you Wednesday night.”

*

Mia climbed into the bath and closed her eyes. The day had been a terrible one for her.

For months now, a voice had floated into her mind while she slept, and on the very night she organised to do something about it, the voice whispered into her mind on multiple occasions. Then at the scene, she was led, unsure of where she was going or what she was looking for, almost as if she was being guided by an unknown force. The tree, then the rope, the stacked rocks, a bracelet, and then the bone.

Rachael had pulled her away before they searched for more bones, and while nothing was clear or obvious, one thought lingered in her mind, The girl, the bone; it’s hers … or, or, it’s her …

With a damp cloth, Mia cleaned the bracelet, then she hung her head and sobbed.

*

Rachael flicked on the morning news; no mention. The evening news came and went without it being mentioned, although as she prepared for bed that night, her everyday cell rang.

“Mark?”

“Hi.”

“What’s up?”

“Ummm Rach, how did you know about the body?”

“You found it?”

“Yes, we did.”

“Human bones?”

“Yes, the coroner is thinking maybe a young female.”

Rachael frowned, then said, “Okay, sounds like you’ve got a murder investigation coming up.”

“I’m sure you’re right, but Rach …”

“What?”

“How did you know about it?”

“Fuck,” she wheezed. “It’s really complicated okay, and an anonymous source told another anonymous source and so on and so on.”

“When we got there, it appeared like someone had been digging in the area where the bones were found.”

Silence, until Mark came in quietly, “Was that you?”

“Sorry?”

“Did you dig, were you at the scene yesterday?”

“Didn’t I just tell you about the anonymous source?” she replied testily.

“Rachael, you need to be honest with me, because we found something at the scene.”

“What?”

“Are you on any medication?”

“Me, no.”

“Okay, good, because they found this white pill at the scene, and one of the forensic guys said that they should be able to identify what it is.”

Rachael closed her eyes. She remembered the pill spilling off her hand, but she had been so rattled, she never gave it another thought. “Okay, okay, I’ll tell you the truth, but I can assure you, what I have to say isn’t going to make this investigation any easier to solve.”

“Maybe I’ll be the judge of that.”

“Well yeah, you remember Mia Coombes, the woman who got hit by the car …”

Twenty minutes later, Rachael hung up, knowing that she had been right. Off-loading the whole tale onto a police officer hadn’t cleared anything up, it just made it murkier. Mark obviously wasn’t convinced by the tales of voices in the night and dreams about that section of forest; and maybe he was watching his back as well, because he finished the phone conversation with the statement, ‘We’re going to be busy, so I’ll have to cancel Wednesday night.’

*

The next day Rachael drove around to the unit.

“Hello Rachael, come in.”

“How are you Mia?”

“Okay I guess, can I get you a coffee?”

“Yeah, thanks.”

Mia prepared the drinks then sat opposite.

“The police have been out there.” Rachael stated.

“You reported it?”

“Yeah, I have a contact and I asked him to keep our names out of it.”

Mia looked up sheepishly, knowing the answer to her question before she even asked it. “Are they human bones?”

“Yes, they are, possibly a youngish female.”

Mia bowed her face.

Rachael had her own agenda, and she asked, “Those pills you take, are they specially prescribed for you?”

“Yes, why?”

“I must have dropped one out there, and they found it.”

“The police?”

“Yeah.”

Mia shook her head in confusion, “Is that a problem?”

“If they’re specially made, the forensic people can break it down and find out what it is, then I presume they would go to the local druggists and get a list of people using that type of medication.”

“Ummm, I still don’t understand.”

Rachael leant forward and held her gaze, “Mia, if they can trace it back to you, it puts you at the scene.”

“Okay, but we didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Yes, good point, and when my contact told me about the pill, I came clean and told him everything.”

“Everything?”

“Yeah, about us being there, about the voices and the dreams you have, everything; basically, I told him the truth.”

“Did he believe you?”

“Jeez, I don’t know,” Rachael began as she raked a hand through her hair. “I mean I’m still not even sure that I believe it. He said that eventually the cops are going to have to speak to us, but I pushed him back and told him that first they have to identify the girl and then get a rough idea of how long she’s been there, and that could take months.”

“Well I’m quite prepared to speak to the police and tell them everything I know.”

“Yeah, cool your heels for a while until they start filling in a few blanks.”

Mia dropped her gaze and rubbed her thighs.

“The voice?” Rachael questioned.

“Pardon?”

“Did you hear the voice last night?”

Mia looked up, “Funny, but no.”

Rachael tapped her fingers on her own thighs as she asked, “So you hear it every night?”

“Up until last night, yes.”

“So ever since you got out of the coma, you hear it every night, this young, female voice, then on the very day we discover the bones, you don’t hear it?”

“Well, yes.”

Rachael finished her coffee then stood. “I asked my contact to keep me up to date with any developments, so if I hear anything, I’ll ring you.”

“Thank-you.”

Mia walked her to the door until Rachael stopped.

“Mia…”

“What?”

“When did you move here again?”

“It was ummm …” a blockage, a blank space; “Ummm, it was …” trying to remember saw the blank space expanding.

Rachael wondered why she was being so evasive on such a minor issue, and she looked at her suspiciously as she said, “It’s okay, I’ll ring you if I hear anything.”

Mia watched Rachael walk to her car, the confusion and the blank spaces fading as she whispered, “August, August 2013.”