“That’s what you expected to happen tonight?” Eleisha asked.
Philip shrugged again as if the question wasn’t worth an answer. “Wade, I’m bored and there’s no DVD player. Do we have cable here?”
Wade stood up and headed for the television, apparently glad for the change of topic. “No pay channels, but I can probably find us a movie if you don’t mind commercials.”
“I hate commercials.”
“That’s the best I can do.”
Wade started channel surfing until Philip said, “Oh, stop there . . . No, go back. That was Die Hard. I’d watch commercials for Die Hard.”
“Okay.” Wade looked around. “Seamus, are you there? This is a pretty good movie.” Nothing happened, and Wade frowned. Apparently, Seamus was not interested in watching movies with Philip. “I’m going to order a pizza.”
With Philip entertained, and Wade ordering pizza, Eleisha sat quietly, trying not to think about what could have happened tonight had Philip felt threatened. Gunshots and beheadings at the Japanese Tea Garden? But then again, Philip considered scenarios she did not. And vice versa. Maybe they needed each other even more than she’d realized.
She glanced over at Rose’s bedroom door. Once they got everyone back to the church, and they could begin setting it up as a proper safe house, all this distrust would be over. The sooner the better.
“I’m going to go check on Rose,” she said.
Walking to the bedroom, she decided not to knock and opened the door to find Rose just sitting on her bed, staring into space.
“Eleisha!” Rose said in surprise.
Eleisha slipped in and closed the door. “I didn’t really think you had business to finish. You can’t sell the place overnight, and you can do your banking from anywhere.”
Rose looked lovely, sitting there in her green dress with her hair down over her shoulders. It suddenly occurred to Eleisha that in the past, back in Scotland, Rose had hardly given a thought to her appearance, sometimes forgetting to even brush her hair. Like Philip, she had changed over the decades.
“You’re upset with me for finding Robert,” Rose said.
Eleisha hesitated. Was she upset? She walked over and sat on the bed. “No.” Then she shook her head for emphasis. “Of course I’m not. This was our plan. You looked for one of us in a clever fashion, and you found someone. I just didn’t expect him, and you have to admit that he’ll . . . take some getting used to. But we won’t leave him behind if he wants to come, and I think he’ll want to come. We just need to get started. I’d like to buy plane tickets for tomorrow night.”
“It’s best. I should make arrangements to buy the church. Then we can set up rooms for you and Robert, and do a bit more work on the place. Then we start looking for anyone else still in hiding.” She paused. “That was smart how you found Robert, looking for news reports. How long can Seamus be away from you before he starts to weaken?”
“Not long,” Rose whispered, but her eyes looked far away. “Plane tickets?” she repeated. “We’ll be trapped high in the air, won’t we? What is that like? Will we have our own small room on the plane?”
Eleisha blinked, suddenly realizing Rose had never been on a plane. “Oh, it’s like what you see in the movies. Just rows of seats.”
“Seats? With everyone sitting all together out in the open? We will be trapped in the air, among all the passengers and all the windows?” She stood up, crossing her arms as if she was cold.
“It’s not that bad. Truly. It’s the fastest way, and I promise to take care of you. We’ll be home in a matter of hours.”
“No. . . .” Rose shook her head, her eyes growing glassy and wild at the same time. “I could not do that. We must have a cabin . . . where we can shutter the windows and lock ourselves away.”
Eleisha blinked. “A cabin, like on a train?”
“Yes, yes . . . the train.”
The air shimmered.
“I think we should do as she says, Rose,” Seamus said, appearing next to the bed with a worried expression. “I felt something in the guest room tonight. It vanished, and I’ve been trying to track it down.”
Eleisha looked around. “Felt something? What?”
“I don’t know. Something dead, but it wasn’t one of you . . . more like one of me.”