New Winslow S8E25
“Hey, Iris?”
Andrew had been sweeping the floor when the thought occurred to him. And he was actually somewhat shocked he hadn’t thought of it earlier. Iris looked up from what she was doing. “Yeah?”
“We’re going to put Billy McBride to rest, yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“How are we going to do that, exactly?”
Iris looked at him, as though unsure where this was going. “His body was lost at sea,” Andrew continued, leaning against the broom handle. “And his home isn’t in New Winslow anymore, which is the entire reason why he’s so messed up there, right? I’m just thinking, between the way he was crying at that séance a while back and this whole ‘I want to go home’ thing he has going, he’s clearly not stable anymore. And his home and body are gone. So once Noah does contact him and we manage to pull off this plan without a hitch, how do we put the boy to rest?”
“Well, there’s a lot of factors going into why he’s so messed up,” Iris said. “And I’m actually really concerned about the rate of deterioration.”
“I’m not surprised,” Andrew said. “Every time I’ve heard him he’s been a mess. And based on how he’s been affecting Noah, that’s probably not helping there either.”
“Oh?” Iris asked. “Do you think what happened the other night was because of Billy’s influence?”
“No, that was all Noah,” Andrew said, his heart twisting slightly. “But I mean the nightmares and the sleepwalking. How do we get him to leave Noah alone and rest after this?”
“I mean, trauma can…” Iris trailed off as she considered her answer. “Billy’s trauma is just radiating through him. He’s deteriorating, so we’re going to have to do it,” she said finally.
“I wonder, though,” Andrew said. “I mean, if we don’t have a body or a home, how do we help him rest?”
“I’ve been thinking about it,” Iris said, tapping on her mouth with her steepled fingers. “If we don’t have him, then I think the best choice would be something that belonged to him. We can ask Missy and Anna if there’s anything at the Countess that definitely belonged to Billy. In their archives, I mean. Or even in his room. And then we bury that.”
“So we bury his old shoe in New Winslow and that’s enough for him to cross over?”
Iris shrugged. “It’s the alternative I’ve seen in some cases. Usually there’s either a body or a home, at least. But I think burying something of his at the plot where his home was would be a good substitute. He wants to leave, so that’ll give him motivation to work with us with whatever ends up being the closest substitute to an actual burial.”
“And it’s worked before?”
“Seems to have.”
“Alright, then.”
“You’ll let me know if you hear him talking tonight?” Iris asked. “Noah, I mean. Or, well, Billy.”
Andrew blinked at her. “Noah’s been down with Liv,” he said. “She’s the medium, yeah?”
“Yeah, but her daughter has a cold,” Iris said. “So you’ll be with Noah tonight instead. I don’t know if he’ll be able to contact Billy, but when you’re looking for him around sunrise, check…” She trailed off for a second, looking into the distance. “Beside the fridge.”
He shook his head, not bothering to decide whether he was irritated or not. She might be flexing or she might be that oblivious. But the idea of curling up in bed with Noah tonight was pretty nice, even if he would have to be on ghost or sleepwalking duty. Still, maybe they could reconnect a little. He didn’t like the way Noah was drifting away again. It was all too familiar.
“I don’t like this, though.”
“I know.”
“No, I mean the idea of Billy deteriorating like this,” Andrew said. “Can that hurt Noah worse than a normal ghost?”
“Normal ghosts aren’t really a thing,” Iris said. “It’s not the natural way of things for a ghost to linger like this. I mean, visitations are a thing, but-”
“I know that,” Andrew said impatiently, starting to sweep again. “But you know he’s… not the most mentally healthy,” he finished finally. “Could Billy’s deterioration impact him more severely as he gets worse? I want to help the kid too, but not if it’s going to hurt Noah.”
“I don’t know,” Iris admitted. “But we need to move Billy along as quickly as we can and there’s still so much left to do. Do you think we should try to force the issue with Billy again? I could hypnotize Noah if that’s what he wants and just try to get him there faster. If Billy’s refusing to talk to anyone but him, there might be a way to work out something with their blood connection. I could…”
She thought for a second, clearly considering both options and how to do this without pissing Andrew off. “I could help kind of guide him there. To a place where he can talk to Billy successfully. I’d need to figure out how to get Billy to come here and stay though.”
“No,” Andrew said. “Pulling him through like that is going to hurt Noah again, I’m sure of it. I know it makes sense, and he’d probably agree to it.”
He rubbed his eyes with the hand not holding the broom. “I just don’t want to put him through that again.”
“I know,” Iris said. “Trust me, I know.”
He knew she wasn’t giving him grief there. Especially since she’d had the opportunity to try again with Noah and told him no, apparently repeatedly. He sighed and started sweeping again, more angrily this time, then flinched as his injuries disagreed with that plan. “Maybe it’ll happen tonight,” he said, not believing it and also knowing Noah wasn’t going to be patient about all of this for much longer.
Iris didn’t say anything.
——
Cleo’s father wasn’t anymore social than her mother, so she could tell that this breakfast together was taking effort. She had to appreciate it. It had only been about a day since her mother had asked for significantly less contact from both of them. She was trying her best to respect that, while finding the careful balance necessary to keep her mother safe.
“Has she called you?” her father asked as he stirred creamer into his coffee.
“No,” Cleo replied, half scanning the menu. “I check in with the staff daily though. So I’ll keep doing that.”
“Me too.”
Cleo laughed. “We’re probably annoying.”
Her father shrugged. “Beats putting her in danger.”
Considering he’d flown across the country at the last minute to be with them when Cleo had only inquired about help with the finances, she knew he understood the balance they were attempting to strike just as well as she did.
“So how about you, Cleo?” he asked a few minutes later as the waitress left with their orders.
“What about me?”
“We haven’t talked much, especially about anything but your mom.”
“Oh, yeah,” she said. “Um, yeah, it’s fine.”
They had barely talked in the years he’d lived in Sacramento. And like with her mom, Cleo was alright with that. So having him asking after her was actually a bit of a surprise. But he was looking at her intently, like he expected more.
“We’re close to solving the curse,” she said.
“You think so?”
“Yeah. A lot has happened. But I’m still… I’m not going to leave them to do it without me, even though Mom’s out.”
“Andrew’s still there?”
“Yeah.”
“How’s the apartment?” her dad asked, changing topics without lecturing her on the dangers of staying. Which she knew he wouldn’t, of course he wouldn’t.
“Good,” she said.
“And the music?”
She laughed. “Wild,” she admitted. “There’s so much online I just don’t get. But people are…”
She thought of the videos in Benny Ravesi’s article, all the ridicule. Then the friends and strangers standing up for her in the comments. And then this festival. This winterfest that was half planned in Glasgow.
“I got invited to Scotland,” Cleo said. “For a festival.”
Her dad let out a low whistle. “You’re going to this one,” he said.
Not a question, but a statement of fact. “Yeah.”
“Good. Are you playing anywhere else while you’re there?”
“No, I’m only planning to do a weekend. Fly out Friday, get home Monday afternoon.”
“No, stay longer than that.”
She’d been about to take a sip of her drink, but paused as he looked at her. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, you need a break.”
“But Mom-”
“I’m here, aren’t I? And the staff at Oakmont. This is why she’s there, to make sure that you and her have what you need.”
“And you.”
He waved her off and she didn’t bother arguing any further. “You weren’t able to go last time, but you need to focus on your career as well.”
“I don’t know if this is really a career,” she admitted. “I’m making some money right now, but it’s nothing stable.”
“Cleo, you’ve got the foundation for a career here. But you need the time to devote to it. A week. Two weeks.”
Two weeks out of the country. Devoted strictly to music and having some fun. It was too good to be true. Sure, she’d been gone for three times that long a year and a half ago, but so much had changed in that time that Cleo could barely envision it.
“I’ll think about it,” Cleo said. “If the curse is broken by then.”
He looked like he wanted to say more, but decided not to.
—————
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