As the days passed, Ty remained in a state of grief, his thoughts hazy. He couldn't think of the future, only what had already occurred. Many times he sent a silent message to Vincent, thanking him for renting the house. This was the one safe spot where he didn't have to worry that someone was trying to kill him. He had no responsibilities, no school, nobody he needed to call-- nothing. The only two people he contacted were Sam and Jenna.
Ty sent perfunctory e-mails and texts to Jenna every few days. She kept asking to come and see him. Ty knew she just wanted to comfort him and help him through this travail but he kept her at a distance, not revealing where he was. He didn't feel he could give anything to a relationship at this point. He couldn't play the part of boyfriend; being thoughtful and caring was beyond his range of emotions.
Sam did as he promised and took care of Vincent's body, having it cremated. He arranged for an elaborate memorial service at a beautiful church in Manhattan. It took place on a clear, warm, sunny spring day, three weeks after Vincent's death. Ty and Ashi drove up and met Sam at the church. Some of his friends from school showed up. Jenna was there and as he was hugging her, Ty thought with a jolt that the last time he saw her was the night before he went with the team to Jerusalem. After the service they took a limo to the luncheon Sam had arranged at a famous restaurant in Central Park.
Ty sensed, rather than saw, the mob of reporters, TV cameras, and paparazzi, held back by police barriers outside the restaurant. He tried to keep his face neutral and emotionless but had no idea if he was succeeding. What he really wanted was to crumple in a heap and be left alone in his tears and misery, but he continued to push his emotions down so he could hold himself together.
As they made their entrance, Ty was aware of every eye in the room, turning to look at them. People began to form a circle around them and singly, they offered their condolences, telling Ty how sorry they were.
Sam stayed by him, identifying people, letting Ty know how they knew his father. Ashi allowed herself to be edged out of the circle of people who were patiently waiting their turn to speak to Ty. A few times he glanced through the crowd and spotted her. She looked beautiful today, in a little black, silky slip of a dress, almost a continuation of her shiny, black hair. She looked even slimmer than usual, wearing high-heeled, black sandals. A couple of times he saw her talking to one man or another and he felt a surge of protectiveness. He wanted to keep those guys away from her.
She's so innocent she doesn't know they're trying to hit on her, he thought as he tried to keep his mind on the introductions and condolences.
Jenna suddenly appeared by his side. The sight of her made him emotional, made him think she could help him, that he could run away from this scene with her. He swallowed hard, holding the tears back. She gave him a small smile before she turned to face the well-wishers with him. He felt her arm touching his arm through the fabric of his jacket and Ty found it reassuring. The small talk and words of sympathy continued on and on, unabated, and in the back of his mind, Ty wondered how long the affair was going to last. Jenna disappeared for a few minutes and when she came back she pushed a plate of food in his hand. Gratefully, he excused himself and escorted Jenna to a table.
Ty knew Sam hadn't picked the famous restaurant for its food, but rather for its renown. Vincent would have liked the splashy send-off in the touristy restaurant. The food barely registered as Ty robotically lifted the fork to his mouth, chewed and swallowed. Within a few minutes, Richard, Preston and Tullio were hovering over the table, with only Preston presuming to sit without being asked. Tullio and Richard followed his lead.
“Ty, we need to talk to you,” Preston began.
Ty felt both Preston's urgency and his relief that he finally got the opportunity to speak to Ty.
“Yes, we've been talking and we agree...,” Tullio said as he and Richard took the seats on either side of Preston.
“...agree that your father's work must continue,” Preston jumped in.
“We were close. I feel that we were on the verge of a discovery,” Richard added, leaning across the table toward him.
“I feel your father might have made some sort of pivotal discovery before he died,” Tullio said.
Ty felt just the slightest flicker of interest. He looked at Tullio, waiting.
“Yes, he called us from London...,” Tullio said.
“Saying he had a document he wanted us to look at when he got back,” Richard said. “He was trying to find someone to translate it.”
Ty nodded with feigned disinterest and found himself tucking the bit of information in the back of his mind. Why don't I know about this document? How come Dad didn't tell me about it? Why do I care? That was Dad's work and I'll never be able to discuss it with him.
“It was important work,” Preston said.
“It would be a travesty not to continue it,” Richard added.
Ty looked at him blankly. “And who would continue it?”
“We would,” Preston said with determination.
Ty saw the undisguised ambition on his face. He had the feeling that Preston thought he alone would carry on the work and would just allow the other professors to tag along.
“Parisi and Scalisi!” Tullio said. “We were a team.”
Ty thought he detected a flash of pride, co-mingled with greed on his face. Was it Tullio who Dad told me about? Was he the jealous colleague? Why did Tullio just put his name before Dad's?
“So what's stopping you?” Ty asked, not quite understanding what they were asking for and why they felt the urgency to speak to him.
“Well...,” Richard began, looking away, casting for the right words.
Tullio broke the silence. “Well, we need access to his research.”
“We need his papers,” Preston said, “his laptop, that document he told us about.”
“...and the little brown book he used to carry around,” Preston added.
“Oh,” Ty said as his thoughts began to swirl around in his head. They want Dad's research, his PRIVATE research. They want facts and ideas it took him a lifetime to accumulate. They want his journal, HIS PRIVATE THOUGHTS. And I don't know anything about this document. What document? And really, I don't remember seeing Dad's brown journal. I think the last time I saw it was at the St. Regis. Did the killer take it?
“We know how you feel. It was your father's work but it was our work too,” Richard said.
Ty was silent. And one of you can't be trusted. Who is it? I wish Dad told me. Which one? Ty felt rebellious at the idea of giving up this precious information. Then he began to feel disgust for all three of them. Dad was a shooting star and you rode the tail of it to fame. Now you're all puffed up with your own self-importance. Who do you think you are that you can complete his work? Not one of you could match Dad's brilliant mind.
“I see,” he said, finally. A long pause followed as his thoughts softened toward them. Why don't I want to give it up? They are the people who could follow the trail to its logical end...and it would certainly be a travesty if it weren't completed. Vincent would have wanted... His thoughts were interrupted by the sight of Ashi, coming toward the table with a gentle smile. His thoughts were suddenly crystallized.
“I agree it would be terrible not to continue,” Ty began, carefully keeping his emotions from showing on his face, “but I haven't had time to think about it yet.”
He looked at Preston, shouting in his mind, NO WAY AM I EVER GOING TO GIVE YOU HIS JOURNAL.
“Of course,” Tullio said, soothingly. “Yes, you had a terrible tragedy in your life. The work would be the last thing you would be thinking about now.”
“But it has been three weeks,” Preston said. “We can take his research off your hands. That way you don't need to think about it and we can get to work.”
Richard gave Preston an incredulous look, dismayed at his colleague's callousness.
“I really do need to think about it,” Ty said, this time more forcefully. He pushed his half-eaten plate away. He glared at Preston. He would relish a confrontation with him.
“Ty, where I can get drink?” Ashi asked quietly, touching his arm.
He stood and Jenna stood with him. “I'll get it for you.” He turned to the trio of professors. “Excuse me, please.”
As they walked away from the professors, Ty could feel their eyes watching him, frustrated by his ambivalence.
“The bar is over here,” Ty said.
“Oh, I not need drink,” Ashi said, smiling.
“Thanks,” Ty said, realizing Ashi rescued him from an argument with the professors. “That could have turned into a scene.”
They walked to a glass wall and looked out at the flowers edging the patio and the topiaries of strange creatures, a stallion and a gorilla. Ty stood between the two girls and looked past the beautiful garden, into the park, thinking it was not even a month ago that he witnessed Ashi's helping the sick man near the angel fountain.
“Those men...,” Ashi began.
“Those men are greedy,” Ty said, angrily.
“What greedy?”
“They want and want and then they want more,” Jenna explained.
“Yes, greedy. That correct word.”
Ty was silent, feeling bitter and alone. His dad could have handled them. Vincent was the leader and the others willingly followed him. Now he was being pushed and pulled without having his father as the buffer.
“Are you going back into hiding?” Jenna asked.
“As soon as this is over,” Ty said. He couldn't wait to get away. He looked forward to the drive back down to the shore, back to the peace of the ocean. He was beginning to feel like everyone wanted something from him, even Jenna. He looked at her sad eyes, questioning him, not pushy or demanding.
“I can't...”
“I know you can't tell me where,” Jenna said. “Just keep writing to me. Just stay in touch and stay safe.” She glanced past him to Ashi. “Please just stay with me,” she pleaded.
“Ty, I get water,” Ashi said, discreetly moving away from them.
Ty put his arm around Jenna. He felt sorry that he thought she wanted something from him. She wanted so little and was so forgiving of his terse little e-mails.
“Of course. I'm sorry I haven't been in touch more.”
“It's okay.” She leaned her head into the crook of his arm and sighed. “I know you feel horrible and don't feel like doing anything.” She smiled and looked up at him. “Just tell me that girl is not comforting you.”
“She’s just a girl Dad brought back from Bhutan to help with his search. I have to take care of her now that Dad is gone.”
Jenna frowned. “You could put her on a plane back to the middle of nowhere.”
“I’m not going to tell her to leave. She can leave whenever she decides.” Ty thought about it for a moment and a vision of lonely days flashed in front of him. “You know you're the only girl for me,” he added, squeezing her tighter. Ty felt a deep, almost physical wish that things were back to the way they were before he ever went to Bhutan.
****
Back on Long Beach Island they picked up the same pattern to their days, as if the memorial service was just a blip in their lives. It was getting warmer and some schools were beginning their summer break. The crowds began to arrive. On the days when the water was calm, Ty taught Ashi to swim. The water was freezing in June but she didn't care. Being fearless in the water, she learned quickly. She observed the other swimmers and mimicked their moves, diving into the waves as they were starting to break. After a couple of lessons she was body surfing, riding the waves. She'd stagger to her feet after riding one in, smiling, and rush back out into the water to catch another one.
Day after day, Ashi studied and Ty idled. He sat on the deck or took a beach chair to the sand during the day, reading mystery novels. Ashi sat with him, studying her English, occasionally asking for the meaning of a word or an explanation. He watched mindless TV at night, sometimes late into the night and Ashi sat beside him on the couch, with her feet curled up under her. She loved shows on the Travel Channel and old sitcom reruns. Then she'd close her books and listened intently, trying to decipher the words that quickly flashed by. It was strangely gratifying to Ty when she began to get the jokes on Full House reruns and laughed along with the laugh track.
One night, like so many other nights, they ended up sitting on the lifeguard chair, talking and watching the waves roll in. The moon was full and the entire beach was bright.
“Tell me about your mother,” Ashi said.
“My mother was a spiritual seeker, always searching for something. Ashi, I think you have what she was always looking for.”
“Maybe she had it all the time and did not know it,” Ashi said, her eyes twinkling. “Did your mother leave you and Vincent?”
“No, she had an accident and died. I was thirteen, right before Dad hit it big with his book.”
“Oh, so very sad for a boy to lose mother.”
“I really miss her. She was the one person who truly loved me with her whole heart.”
“What about Vincent?”
Ty contemplated his answer and worded it carefully. “Dad loved me but he was driven. I think if he had to choose between me and the quest, he would have chosen the treasure. Sometimes that made me feel all alone on this planet. But mom was different. I was only eight when she noticed I loved to take pictures; she gave me my first movie camera for my birthday. That’s something I’ll never forget. Dad would have never noticed what interested me.”
“Do you ever speak with her?”
“I'm not sure what you mean,” Ty said. “Do I talk to her in my mind? All the time.” There was a lull in the conversation as Ty thought for a minute. “Do you think she hears me?” he asked in a quiet voice.
“Well, do you have experience that one person talk to another person with no words?”
“They call that telepathy. I'm not sure if that's real.”
“Okay, telepathy. Do not mothers have a...a...thing that connect them. Do they not know what their child think? And the child know what the mom think?”
“Yes, I suppose that's true. I read somewhere that moms in Africa hold their naked kids on their hips. They have to know ahead of time when the kid is going to pee or poop so they can hold the child out, away from them. They're considered bad moms if they don't know when it's going to happen.”
Ashi laughed. “Yes, I think that is an example. Is it bodies that talk to each other in telepathy or minds?”
“Minds, I guess.”
“Then why would talk from one mind to another mind, from mom to child, stop when one of them changes how they are...” She struggled for words. “When one change from living to dead, why would talk stop? Body is gone but minds are still alive and present.”
Ty always thought that the metaphor of a light bulb going on was just a figure of speech, but that was exactly how he felt, the light bulb just flipped on. “Yes, that's right. If two minds can communicate telepathically, why would it stop just because one of them no longer has a body.” The possibility caught fire in Ty's mind. It would be great if I could talk to Mom and Dad.
“But wait. Isn't that a one-sided conversation?”
Ashi looked at him, puzzled.
“I mean, I always talk but they don't talk back. Or if they are talking back to me, I can't hear them.”
Ashi laughed heartily. “Maybe you are not listening. Maybe your mind is talking so much you cannot hear them. Okay, we visit your mom in mind. We meditate and go see her.”
“Okay.” Ty was open to experimenting.
Ashi spoke softly to him, telling him to close his eyes, relax, how to breathe, instructing him.
“I can't do this, Ashi. My mind is racing.”
“I help you keep your mind clear. Hold my hand. Expect something to happen. It is very important to expect.”
When she held his hand it did seem to help his mind focus better. Am I asleep? No, my mind is alert. I hear Ashi speaking. No thoughts. She's telling me no thoughts. She's telling me to invite my mother. He felt like laughing, but nevertheless, he thought, Mom, are you out there? Can you come and see me?”
They silently breathed in sync for about fifteen minutes, all the while, Ty focused on his expectation that something was going to happen. Even so, he was surprised when he saw his mom’s face in front of him, so young and smiling. The surroundings took shape and he could see they were in a park, sitting on a bench.
Is it really you, Mom?
Yes, Dad's here with me too. We're fine but we've missed you so much.
How do I know this isn't all in my mind?
Ty, sweetheart, of course it's all in your mind. She leaned forward and whispered in his ear. Now you'll know you spoke to me. Her scent jolted him into a remembrance. He had not even known he could remember how she smelled.
Mom, can you see me? Do you know what I'm doing?
You're sitting with this young princess. She laughed joyfully. I check in on you from time to time.
Can you hear me, Mom? When I talk to you?
I can hear when you talk to me. She turned serious. I see how sad you are. There are a lot of sad things in your life.
Ty felt a tear starting to form. I feel so alone, Mom. I'm by myself. There's nobody else.
His mother stared at the ground. It breaks my heart that you're alone. I know you have to feel the sadness but don't let your life slip away, always being sad.
What should I do?
You can't hide forever. You have a life to live. It's time to decide what you want to do next, then do it.
Ty was thinking about how much sorrow he was feeling when the surroundings began to fade, then his mom's face faded, and finally, there was nothing. He was back, sitting on the lifeguard stand with Ashi. He wiped his tears with the back of his hand.
Ashi took his hand and rubbed away the tears. “I am sorry. I do not like to make you sad. Maybe you do not want to do this again. Maybe it is too sad for you,” Ashi said.
Ty thought for a second. “No, it was great. I'm very glad I did it. But I don't know...was it real? It seemed as if I was making it up.”
“It can seem as if you are making it up but you can usually tell your voice from another...”
“Wait. She told me something in the meditation. I have to check it out and see if it's true. If it's true then I was really, truly talking to her. I have to call Sam first thing in the morning and ask him.”
He watched the waves, thinking of all the exciting possibilities if a person could really speak with a loved one who had passed on.
Ashi interrupted his thoughts. “Do you ever dream of her?”
“What a funny question. Yes. When she died I dreamed of her a lot. Now, not so often. You know, we usually met in a park in my dreams. Now I dream more of my Dad and I meet him in the park. Why do you ask?”
“I think dreams where you can visit someone who dies.”
Ty faced her. “I believe. If you tell me that's the way it is, then I believe that's the way it is.”
They continued to talk into the night. Ty had been curious about what Ashi was thinking and doing, especially when she healed someone, but now, he asked the questions that had hung in the back of his mind. He wanted to know how she did the things she did, and how she learned it. Ashi answered him truthfully, but laughed and joked often about it.
The sky became lighter until a red streak peaked up over the ocean in front of them.
“We've been up all night. Are you tired?” Ty asked.
“No, this was a so much fun night. Thank you,” Ashi replied, her eyes twinkling.
“It was a great night,” Ty agreed, “but I think I'm going to have to go to sleep.”
“The lifeguards will come here soon anyway.”
They walked back to the house as the sun rose. Ty felt changed somehow. His life felt full of possibilities again. He felt like he wanted to do something, but he didn't know what.
Mom told me to decide what to do next...but what?
He climbed into bed, expecting to fall into an exhausted sleep, but couldn't. His thoughts kept him awake as he wondered what his mother would advise him to do. Finally, when the sun was shining brightly into his room, he fell asleep, immediately entering the dream state. He recognized the park right away. He went to the bench he had so recently shared with his mother and sat. It was an old-fashioned bench with brown slats and wrought iron armrests. The park reminded him of the manicured park in Mary Poppins.
A figure approached and he strained, trying to determine who it was. The blurry face came into focus and Ty got a clear look, then it faded out again. The dream was murky and when Ty woke he could only remember one thing. It was his father, grinning, saying, “Don't you want to know the secret?”
Ty looked at the clock on the night table. Eleven A.M. He stayed still, trying to remember more of the dream and figure out the cryptic question. It didn't take much figuring. He went downstairs, spying Ashi on the deck, sitting on a chaise with her head bent over a book. He joined her.
“I know what I'm going to do,” he volunteered.
“Good,” she replied, laughing as she waited for more information.
Ty related the dream and said, “You know, after all the work and research over the years into the Templar mystery, I am just about as knowledgeable as anyone on the planet about the subject. I've read every single bit of research that Vincent read.”
Ashi nodded.
“My dad had a good point,” Ty continued. “He knew I was as interested as he was in finding out the truth about it. I still want to find out badly.”
“Yes...?”
“I am going to find out. With stark determination, he said, “I am going to finish Vincent's work.”