is still open and I find a telecom shop where I buy a few international phone cards and a new pay-as-you-go phone. I get a small laptop too, using the debit card that I got from the bank in Adelaide. It creates a money trail, but I don't have any choice right now. I don't have enough pesos to pay for it, and changing the rest of my Australian money is going to require a bank.
If we're going to keep moving, changing money is going to be a problem. I'm going to have to trust that the bank channel is secure for the time being. If it isn't, it's better to find out now rather than later when I really need it.
Afterward, I find a quiet bench off the main thoroughfare of the mall and sit down to figure out how to make the phone cards work. Australia is on the other side of the International Date line, and with the time difference, it is tomorrow morning there. I follow the directions on the card and then punch in Ralph's cell phone number.
He answers on the third ring. “Hello?”
“Did I wake you?”
“What? No, no. No, I was just… is this—?”
“It is.”
“Are you…? Is…?”
It's hard to ask questions when you're worried about who might be listening in.
“We're fine. Enjoying our honeymoon,” I tell him. “How are the neighbors?”
“Restless. Some of the natives are getting curious too.”
“Sounds like a party.”
“I think the neighbors are leaving soon, though. If they haven't gone already.”
“Any forwarding address?”
“Just the one on file.”
“Well, sounds like that party is almost over. Should be nice and quiet after that.”
“So, ah, look, the neighbors.” I can almost hear him thinking through the code phrasing we've adopted, trying to fit it to what he wants to tell me. “The landlords—the ones who own the place the neighbors have been staying at—I think they pulled the lease.”
I parse what he's telling me. “Interesting. Any idea on who the landlords are? Is someone else moving in?”
“Nada,” he says dejectedly. “I got zilch.”
“I was thinking about buying my new bride some hyacinths,” I tell him. “But it's the wrong time of year. Could you look into it for me? Where I could find someone who could grow them out of season? Get them to hold them for me? Until we get back.”
He's quiet for a minute. “Yeah, sure,” he says eventually. “Holding on to some hyacinths. I can do that.” From the stress he places on certain syllables, I think he's got my request figured out. Hyacinth Holdings.
“Great, thanks. I'll call later.” I hang up.
I call Callis next. Rather, I try to, but he doesn't answer. I let the call ring for a long time, wondering why it doesn't go to voice mail. All I can imagine is an old rotary phone in a dusty room somewhere, in a house that no one lives in anymore.
I end the call and shove the phone in my pocket. I don't need to talk to Callis, and maybe this is his way of reminding me that I need to stay away from making contact. If I'm isolated, then not only am I safe from whatever is poisoning Arcadia, Arcadia is also safe from me.
Mere says this isn't personal, but I can't help but think of Talus's warning on the boat. She's not family. Remember your priorities.
The matter is personal, though. It has been for a long time.
I need to remember who the steward was on Rapa Nui.
I start walking toward San Cristobal. There will be trails, walking paths through the trees. If not, I'll just find my own way through the woods. I've done it before. All that really matters is that I get under the trees for a while.
They don't judge me. They still accept me as family. They'll let me rest, and maybe they'll even help me put my mind back together.
* * *
Mere is still sleeping when I return to the room. Her hair is mussed around her head and her shirt is twisted around her body. The only part of her that moves is her chest and her throat. Watching both becomes hypnotic, and I can feel the thirst tickling at the back of my throat.
How many times have I been in a room like this, watching someone like this? There were others before Val, a long list of faces that are all out of focus. But it was different with the others. None of them knew about Arcadia. None of them knew