The Lightkeepers by Abby Geni

Author:Abby Geni
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781619027497
Publisher: Counterpoint
Published: 2015-11-10T16:00:00+00:00

OLIVER THE OCTOPUS has reemerged. Recently Lucy decided to effect a massive feng shui reorganization of her bedroom. It took her a while to arrange all her furniture. I did not, of course, venture in to see how the work was progressing. The dragon might have been slain, but I was leery at the thought of entering his former lair. From my room upstairs, I listened to the creaking, the scrape of wood on wood, the occasional burst of cursing. I did not ask Lucy what had motivated this spate of activity. She would not have confided in me, even if I had wanted her to.

She and I have achieved détente, of a kind. She has stopped dropping catty comments, and I have stopped bristling like a hedgehog in her company. We nod and smile at one another in passing. We are civilized. Since Andrew’s death, the others have demonstrated endless compassion for Lucy. They give her hugs. They rub her back. They ask her how she’s doing in honeyed voices. I do not. I am well aware that she does not like me—but her enmity is less focused now. Andrew’s passing has overshadowed such petty concerns. I get the feeling that I am a mild but persistent annoyance to her, like an ugly painting on the wall.

Recently I overheard her chatting with Forest. He and Lucy are close; I have noticed it before. That morning, he dropped by to see how the feng shui effort was coming along. I was in the kitchen at the time. It was my turn to make lunch, and I was staring gloomily into the cupboards, trying to dream up some creative way to turn stale pasta and potatoes that were sprouting roots into a palatable meal.

Forest’s reedy voice carried to me clearly.

“Nice,” he said. “Different curtains.”

“I cut up an old sheet, actually,” Lucy said. “You can see the pattern on the cloth when the light is right. It looks okay, doesn’t it?”

“Uh-huh.”

I banged around the kitchen a little, alerting them to my presence, but they went on talking just the same.

“I’m surprised that you changed things so much,” Forest said thoughtfully. “I barely recognize the place.”

I heard a sneeze, possibly a sob.

“I couldn’t bear it anymore,” Lucy said in a damp voice.

“Oh, honey.”

There was a rustling, and she blew her nose, a goose’s honk. More rustling. She might have been fumbling with a handkerchief.

“You know why I stayed, right?” she said. “I thought about leaving. Boarding the ferry. Going home. I even dreamed about it. But in the end, I just couldn’t. It’s for Andrew, you see. It’s all for him.”

Listening, I froze, one hand gripping a bag of potatoes.

“This is where I remember him,” Lucy said. “Where his spirit is. Not a ghost. I don’t mean a ghost. His essence is here.”

I swallowed hard. There was a scuffle, and I imagined that Forest had thrown an arm around Lucy’s shoulders, tugging her close.

“But lately it’s too hard,” she said. “Every morning I wake up.

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