The Raven Saga Box Set

Chapter 18

I totally understood. Even though I'd only known the truth for a short time, I did feel the need to have a close friend to confide in.

She told me about the time she'd had the 'family of ravens' talk with the rest of the family and, although it came as a bit of a shock, she'd always known our family was special. It was just a feeling she'd had.

“But you've never transformed, have you?” I asked, eager to know more about the physical change.

She shook her head, “No, not yet, but I've had all the weird dreams too so we're just waiting for it to hit me one of these days. I have no idea when it will happen, though. It's a bit scary, isn't it? Not knowing how we turn. I worry that it will be painful,” she said, twirling her long hair around her fingers nervously. “But Rose told me that provided you relax completely and just let your body change of its own accord, the pain should be controllable. She said it's all mind over matter. I've been doing meditation and yoga ever since!” she laughed.

“Seriously?” I asked, wondering if she was joking or not.

She nodded enthusiastically and jumped up from the armchair, demonstrating a few awkward-looking poses. “The yoga poses are easy once you've done them for a while. When I first started, my muscles were so stiff, I struggled even with the simplest moves. I'll teach them to you, and we can do it together,” she said eagerly.

Looking down at my leg and back up at her comically, she burst into a fit of giggles. “Okay, I'll teach you in a few months when you can actually get your backside off the sofa!” She sat back down on the chair and curled her shoeless feet underneath her bottom.

“So, you didn't see who rescued you yesterday, then?”

Shaking my head and raising my eyebrows, I wished there was something exciting I could tell her. The only way I would be able to identify him would be by his voice, I told her, but I explained that I didn't recognise it. It wasn't a voice I'd heard before.

“You don't think it was your dad, do you?” she almost whispered.

It had crossed my mind, but as I explained, even though I'd barely ever heard my father speak, I didn't feel like it was him. Surely I would have felt something. And if it had been him, wouldn't he have stayed? He wouldn't have just dumped me on someone's doorstep. And why would he vanish afterwards?

“It just didn't feel like him, you know,” I added.

She nodded, clearly understanding what I meant. We sat in silence for a while, each lost in our own thoughts about the man who had saved my life. Had I been left there, under that log in the storm, I could have frozen to death. I could have bled to death for all I knew. The thought made me shiver. There were many ifs in this world. I was just grateful to whoever he was.

“So, did I miss much at school yesterday?”

“Not a great deal, unless you count poor Jemima falling flat on her face in front of the basketball team in cheerleading practice. She had a b****y nose and everything. Poor thing. Oh, and Mrs Ormond seemed interested to know why you weren't there yesterday. A little too interested really. There's something odd about that woman, but I can't quite put my finger on it,” she laughed.

She asked how my date had gone with Oliver. Sonya had told her that he'd come over and that we'd had dinner prepared for us.

My instant grin answered her question. “That well, huh?” she laughed and as if on cue, Oliver arrived bearing a box of chocolates for his "patient". It was good to see him.

“Hey Oliver, good to see you,” Jo said as she stood up, put on her shoes and started doing up her shoelaces.

They exchanged a few words before she decided to leave us alone.

“I'll call you later,” she said with a wink, before shouting “Bye Gabriel,” and closing the front door on her way out.

“Ben sends his love and hopes you're feeling better today,” Oliver said as he bent to kiss me on the cheek. As usual, I blushed and smiled as he handed me the pretty black box with a pink ribbon.

“Awww thanks, Oliver... that's really sweet. But you didn't have to.”

“I was going to go and start my training with Ben today... so much for that,” I said, as I rolled my eyes and lifted my leg.

He smiled and told me that Ben had said for me not to worry about it. He wasn't overly busy at the moment anyway so it could wait a few more weeks until I was ready.

“How are you feeling?” he asked as he sat down and watched me rip off the ribbon and delve inside the box to discover which chocolate was which. He laughed at my enthusiasm.

“I'm good thanks. I woke up feeling a bit groggy, but I feel much better now.”

“I guess I was right to bring chocolates rather than flowers.”

I nodded with a mouth full before realising I wasn't very polite, so I offered them to him.

Chocolate wasn't something I was used to eating, but they were delicious. They didn't last long though as we spent the next few hours chatting whilst we savoured them. Occasionally Gabriel would pop his head round the door to make sure we were okay, but he figured I was fine whenever I was with Oliver, so he ended up leaving us alone for a few hours.

Oliver stayed with me the entire day.

“I feel bad about keeping you cooped up indoors for so long.”

“That's okay. You're not exactly in any state to do anything else, are you? But maybe tomorrow we could try and go for a short walk? What did the doctor say about walking?” he asked.

I honestly didn't have a clue. I had been so keen to get out of the hospital that I hadn't even asked any questions. I was sure Gabriel would know, though, so I promised to ask him.

Oliver scolded me for not talking to the medical staff, and he shook his head as if I was in big trouble, but he couldn't keep a straight face and ended up laughing.

“Well, I'll come over tomorrow whether we can go for a walk or not,” he promised as he prepared to leave. “Call me if you need anything?” he said as he kissed me gently on the lips. It was my first real kiss, and it felt like I'd been given an electric shock. Not the kind that hurts, but a wonderful, sweet, electric shock. I smiled and touched my lips with my fingers.

As I slowly opened my eyes, I saw that he was smiling too. And then before I knew it, he was gone.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

I had to wear my cast for nearly two months, and they were, without a doubt, the best two months of my life so far. Even the pain and awkwardness of a broken leg couldn't dull my happiness.

I'd dreaded being unable to do anything, especially after Rose and Gabriel said I should avoid agonising over recent events and should just concentrate on getting my life back together. That is exactly what I did, and admittedly, it was the best thing for me.

It was January, it was absolutely freezing, yet I had become accustomed to the colder weather in Canada. I had actually begun to love waking up on a chilly morning and opening my bedroom window to take a few breaths of crisp cold air. It was the perfect way to wake myself up, followed by a hot bath, which I had finally mastered getting into without the help of either Meredith, Sonya or Jo who had all taken it in turns to pop round first thing to help. But still, I couldn't wait to get the cast off.

Thanksgiving had been an eye-opener for me. It was time for family, pure and simple. And although my family had a lot to be thankful for, it was a sad occasion because we missed my father terribly.

Much of the day was spent talking about old times, the times I had missed – either because I had not yet been born to this world, or I was being kept holed up in a London apartment. I heard stories about my father and his brother and sister when they were children. The fun they'd had growing up in this fantastic part of the world. The mischief they had created and the love that had bound them together.

With Ben, Crystal and Oliver with us for much of the day, we were unable to talk about the unusual circumstances that surrounded our lives and, in a way, it was nice to just be normal. It was also wonderful to be able to spend time with my family as well as my boyfriend. There had never been any need to hide the fact that we were together, as everyone had accepted us immediately.

But it was my first real Christmas that was particularly memorable. It was unlike anything I had ever experienced. It was the first time I had ever had the opportunity to celebrate it, and so I immersed myself into the festive spirit.

While living in London, I had overheard wonderful stories at school about what the other kids had been up to during the holidays, and I had envied them tremendously. For me though, Christmas was simply any other day in the calendar. No gifts, no decorations but more importantly, no loving family, no joy.

Yet in Canada, we had experienced all of this and much more. The whole family, as well as Oliver, Ben and Crystal again, came to our house to celebrate Christmas day. Everybody helped prepare the most sumptuous feast I had ever laid my eyes on and then we had all exchanged gifts.

I was given clothes by everyone. My family were clearly sick of seeing me wearing nothing but black, and so they had all produced a new wardrobe. They had planned everything together, and I assumed that Jo was responsible for doing most of the shopping. When I asked her, she nodded, “With the help of my mom, of course!”

“You're such a great person, Lilly, we want to see you in colours that match your personality,” Sonya had said, speaking for them all later on. I was touched. After thirteen years of yellow and months of black, the time had finally come for the rainbow.

The day was glorious. My biggest regret was that my father was not there. I would have given anything to have him spend that day with us. It would have meant so much, not just to me but to the rest of the family, especially Gabriel who had lost his son so many years before. But as we had spent most of Thanksgiving thinking about him and what had become of him, we refused to be sad on December 25th too.

Everybody knew that Christmas was totally new to me and I got the impression that they'd made more of an occasion out of it than they would normally have done.

I believe they were making up for all those years of my 'living' in a room with little contact with the outside world. I told them they needn't have made so much effort. I'd have been equally as happy to put up a Christmas tree and have a normal dinner with everyone. But I understood that they were showing me how much they loved me and how much they'd missed me over the years. The feeling was completely mutual.

Between Christmas and New Year I had received another huge surprise – a birthday party.

It was December 28th and, although I was aware that it was the date I was born, it never even occurred to me that anyone else would take much notice. After all, nobody ever had. The other thing that had been on my mind was the fact that not only was it my birthday, it was also the date I had lost my sister. The date of Neleh's death. And it was very close to the anniversary of my mother's death too.

How could I celebrate when something so horrific had happened on that very day fourteen years earlier? It was difficult, but having never had the opportunity to meet my mother or my sister, my sorrow could not equal the sorrow that perhaps Rose was feeling. Or Gabriel. Or any of my family for that matter.