Tomahawk'd Part 2

Shaking her head, Erin responded, "Nah. I like to draw." She shrugged. "I like to listen to music, but I don't want to play it."

"Just like I like to look at pictures, I just don't want to draw them."

"Exactly! You're smart, Jack."

"Nah. I'm just good at faking it."

The girls talked, played, and continued to practice their respective talents over the next few days. Erin drew her pictures while Jackson played her recorder and watched the talented hands form their masterpieces.

The two had felt an instant bond between them. Small glances and touches made that bond grow every day they spent together. They weren't sure exactly what the feeling was between them, they just knew they couldn't wait to see the other and feel it again.

Erin's parents were thrilled she found such a good friend in Jackson. With Erin out playing most of the day, they were able to spend many hours reconnecting with each other. Joe took the boat out many times with Katie along for the ride. He tried to teach her how to cast with a fis.h.i.+ng rod, only to find himself frequently untying knots in his line. Realizing she wasn't going to win any fis.h.i.+ng awards, Katie resigned herself to using the bamboo pole they had purchased for Erin.

No muss, no fuss, Joe thought, relieved he wouldn't have to worry about his gear anymore.

Instead of fis.h.i.+ng, today they were going to hook the big inner tube to the boat for Erin and Jackson to ride. They told the girls after breakfast that they were going to get it ready. Erin was very excited. She'd never done anything like that before. Jackson a.s.sured her it would be "totally awesome." With Erin believing anything and everything Jackson told her, she knew, without question, it would be.

Chapter Two.

1986 Paldeer, IL Letter to Erin from Jackson January 7, 1986 Dear Hawk, Happy New Year! Can you believe it's 1986? I totally can't! Thanks for your last letter. Sorry it's taken me such a long time to write back. Christmas was very cool, how was yours? I wish it didn't cost so much money to talk on the phone. I'd much rather talk to you than right write these stupid letters. Well, they're not stupid, but you know what I mean. J Aunt Jackie said to tell you hi. I think she really likes you.

Thanks for the birthday card! It made my birthday extra special, Hawk. You even got me Snoopy! That was totally cool.

I can't wait till the end of the summer when we can hang out again. I miss you, buddy. I'm glad your folks are bringing you back up north!

You know, I never taught you how to fish last time. I promise to make it up to you this year, okay? I think it was because we couldn't get you off that tube! Ha, Ha. You really cooked across the water. Probably because you weigh like next to nothing. I'm saying "like" a lot. My friends at school say it like all the time. It's driving my aunt crazy. Sometimes I say it on purpose. J Shh! Don't tell her I said that!

Hey, guess what? We had an end-of-term show. All the band members played something. I played a solo on my recorder in front of the whole school before Christmas break. I was so scared I almost peed my pants! One of my cla.s.smates plays the paino piano really well. She was my accompanymint accompanist for the song. Sorry for all the scratches, Hawk. I try to spell words right so you don't think I'm an idiot. After I wrote them, I looked in the dictionary and saw they were wrong. OOOPS! J We got a new girl in cla.s.s. Her name is Jennifer. I like hanging out with her. She's from California. Her hair is so blond it's like white. She's really cool. I think you'd like her. She likes to play sports and she's tall, too, so I guess we'll get a new girl on the basketball team!

We've got so much snow I can't believe it. The trees are pretty, though. I think you could draw them perfectly. It's weird that you've never seen this place in winter. But it's kinda boring since you can't really go anywhere since it's so cold out.

Anyway, tell me how your art project went in the fair. You sounded really excited about it when you wrote. I hope you won first place! You're really talented, Hawk. Never stop drawing or your biggest fan will be really sad.

I'll write better next time, I promise.

Friends 4 Ever, Jack 1986 IslandCity Letter to Jackson from Erin February 9, 1986 Dear Jack, Thanks for the letter. Do you know I keep all of your letters in a s...o...b..x? My mom says I shouldn't keep so much cludder, but I keep it hidden in my closet so she won't see. Happy New Year to you too. My Christmas was a-okay. I got some cool art supplies. My dad said he found the best ones since I take such good care of them. I got a big art pail to keep the pencils and pastels separate. I got so much paper too. It's totally awesome. J I'm glad you liked your birthday card. You said Joe Cool was rad, so I sent him. Wow, twelve years old. You're almost a teenager. I'll be eleven in September, that will be rad, too.

I won first place in my art fair, Jack! I used that first picture I drew from the roof. Everyone said I capjured the water perfectly. You were right! I don't think I could stop drawing ever. I love it too much. J So, don't worry, okay? I have so many pictures from last summer. Remember how mad you got when you saw that I drew you? You shouldn't be mad. It just shows you are special. J I don't draw everyone. I bet I can draw you better by the summer.

You're not an idiot, Jack. You're one of the smartest people I know. You are talented too. You play your recorder so good. I can't believe you had to play in front of everybody! I would have peed for sure. J We have some snow here too. I bet you have more. Yeah, I probably won't see your home in the winter. That kinda makes me sad. But you haven't seen my house either. I can't wait to see you too. I'm glad my dad found your place. We wouldn't be friends if he didn't. Do you think we'll be friends 4 ever? I hope so. I like using the 4 instead of spelling it out. That's really cool. See, you're smart. Ha, Ha!

You can teach me to fish this summer. Maybe my dad will let us go on the boat with him. He said I would have more fun doing the tube anyway. I did like that a lot. You cooked on the water too! I still remember how hard it was to hang on with the turns. I'll be stronger this summer so I don't fall off so much.

Okay, my mom is calling me to eat dinner. Yuck, pot roast and brockly.

Write again soon.

Friends 4 ever, Hawk PS. Tell your Aunt Jackie I said hi.

PPS I like her too! J PPSS I won't tell her you say "like" on purpose!

1986 IslandCity Letter to Jackson from Erin July 24, 1986 Dear Jack, I'm coming in a week to see you! I am so excited. I like that my dad's shop closes in August. We get a whole month to play. He says he needs the break as much as his workers do. The car ride is going to be so long. That's the only part I don't like. I hate having to wait to stop to pee. When you gotta go, you gotta go! J My mom said I could bring my art supplies again since I drew so many pictures last time. My art teacher said that my strokes are improving and that I have a great style! She said she couldn't wait to see my pictures from this summer when we start school. It was so awesome she said that in front of the whole cla.s.s on the last day of school.

My summer has been okay, but I'm really exciting excited to come to Wisconsin again. Paldeer is cool and everything, but I miss my best friend, Jack. L I told my neighbor Ricky that I was going there for vacation again and he called you a cheesehead. What does that mean? He's just a big jerk anyway, I only play with him because my mom told me to. I don't like him at all. I'm glad we don't go to the same school.

I gotta clean my room to pay for all the stamps I'm using. My mom said you should earn things you want. I guess that makes sense.

Okay, Jack. I'll see you really soon. You don't have to write back if you don't want to.

Friends 4 ever, Hawk PS My dad got me a super cool fis.h.i.+ng pole!

PPS So you better show me how to fish this year.

1986 Paldeer, IL Letter to Erin from Jackson July 28, 1986 Dear Hawk, You might not even get this letter before you get here. But if you do, I'm really excited to see you in a couple days.

If you don't get this letter and read it after you get back home. It was totally awesome to see you and I miss you already! SSS (sorry so short) I got a lot to do before you get here!

Friends 4 Ever, Jack PS Tell Ricky to come to Wisconsin and say that! I'll squash him.

Chapter Three.

2002 Chicago Erin Hughes strode back and forth, the telephone glued to her ear, eyes scanning the ceiling, hand pulling her hair as she paced. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. She held the phone away from her head, flipped it off with her middle finger, then squeezed and shook it with both hands. Her face scrunched up while she silently screamed toward the phone. Bringing the receiver back to her ear, the annoying voice continued.

"Jeremy, just stop it! If we have to go over this one more time, I'm going to do something I won't be responsible for," she threatened. "I've been through enough, don't you think?"

The voice on the other end of the line chimed in, "Look, Erin, I want this more than you do. Just settle, d.a.m.n it."

Grinding her teeth, Erin answered sharply, "Of course you want it more! If you and that...that woman want your freedom, I have a solution. I. Want. My. House. It's just that simple. I picked it out, I paid for most of it and I furnished it. It's not my fault you knocked her up. You should've kept your p.e.c.k.e.r in your pants!" she screamed.

His silence was his response. After a few moments, he spoke softly. "Er...please. We can't do this anymore. Our marriage wasn't perfect. You know that. We both made mistakes. I just..."

"You just went to another woman instead of coming to me." Though exasperated with the conversation, she continued, "Had you come to me first and told me you weren't happy, I'd have so much more respect for you right now. But no, you had to cheat first and wait to get caught. If you aren't willing to give me the one thing I've asked for, you can have your lawyer contact mine, and then you'll have to pay up the a.s.s." Erin took a deep breath. "I don't want you calling me anymore unless you can be reasonable, Jeremy."

Erin's husband seemed to be considering her words, as he took a long time in answering. When she thought he'd hung up, she heard, "Fine. Let's just do this."

"Fine. I'll call my lawyer. I'll have mine contact yours so this can be over." She sighed, running her fingers through her hair, pulling a few strands behind her ear. "I don't want to fight anymore."

"Sweetheart, I don't either."

"Don't call me that! You don't get to be a nice guy anymore. Just promise me that when you get the papers, you'll sign them. Please, Jeremy?" She was almost pleading.

"I promise."

Wanting to add, just like our vows, you son of a b.i.t.c.h? but not wanting to continue the conversation, Erin just said, "Thank you, I appreciate it."

"Take care of yourself, Erin."

"I always do." With that, she hung up the phone. Sitting on her couch, Erin put her face in her hands and cried at her situation. She was more upset she didn't even see the affair coming than at the actual dissolution of her marriage.

I know I didn't love him like I should have. I should have been the one to leave. I was comfortable and it made my folks happy to see me with him, especially Mother. This is my own d.a.m.n fault. The niggling truths were always in the back of her mind.

Jeremy was a nice man, goodlooking, generous, but there had always been something lacking in their relations.h.i.+p. The pa.s.sion, the flip-flops in her belly, the ache that was supposed to come when she was away from him-she just didn't feel that way. About him.

Now, at twenty-six-years-old, she would be divorced and, once again, single. Rubbing her eyes with her fists, she sighed and looked around her home. "At least I get to keep you."

"Mrrrrow." A soft mew came from the study doorway. Erin's eyes brightened as the small orange tabby walked toward her. She scooped up the cat and held her as she began to purr. "I get to keep you, too, little Grace." The rumbling against her chest brought a watery smile to her face. "You've always been here for me, haven't you?" The cat continued to purr and rub noses with her owner.

Walking out of her study, Erin traversed the hallway, up the stairs and into her studio. There, on the walls, she studied the landscapes and seascapes she had created-some from memory, others from within her mind-absently petting the animal in her arms. They spanned the time from when she was a small girl to her adult self. She was proud of what she'd accomplished in such a short time.

When she was twenty, a friend of hers who knew Kimberly Parks, the owner of an art gallery in town, got her a job there. On a whim, Erin had asked if she could put up some of her own artwork when they were having a slow period. Much to her surprise and delight, her boss agreed, and gave her a small corner of the gallery to display her work. The drawings and paintings sold quickly, with requests for more. One admirer of her work said that Erin "brought a childlike spirit to her outdoor visions that Thomas Kinkade could only dream of doing."

Erin clung to those words like a lifeline. It gave her the inspiration to keep going, since her true muse was no longer in her life.

"Jack."

It was the merest whisper as she looked at the memories that hung on the walls. Because of Jackson, Erin had kept working on her craft until she had found her niche. One aspect of her work was never made public, nor shared with Jeremy or anyone other than her subject. The Serenity Collection, as she called it, was her private and most heartfelt work. They were black-and-white pencil or charcoal drawings, but they captured more colorful memories than any of her other works.

Maybe one day she'd offer that grouping of collected works for sale, but for now, she had them in her closet, stored in several boxes, away from eyes that weren't worthy. It had been a few years since she'd even looked at them.

Sometimes curiosity overwhelmed her to the point of picking up the phone. Then words from her memory would come back to haunt her and she'd put the receiver down."Please don't call or write to me anymore, Jack. It'll be too hard."

Jackson had respected her request for almost seven years and hadn't called her. They hadn't corresponded at all, either. Not even a birthday card. The emptiness she felt without Jackson in her life had led her to Jeremy. He had been at one of her shows and couldn't stop gus.h.i.+ng about her talent. One meeting turned into several, then six months down the road, with her mother's enthusiastic approval, they were married. At twenty-one, Erin had a husband, a successful career, a beautiful home, and every amenity she could want. The only thing lacking was the joy she used to feel. The smile on her face was for show only; rarely did it reach her eyes. She'd learned to play a part so well that no one ever realized it was just an act.

She slowly slid open the closet door that enclosed her treasures. Putting the little cat down, Erin pushed aside rows of hanging clothes and reached toward the storage cubbyhole that held her boxes. The first one she grabbed contained her most favorite drawings.

As she opened the box, her heart began to hammer in her chest. Wisps of dark-shaded, windblown hair appeared as she slowly pulled out the first drawing. The profile appeared and Erin's eyes filled with new tears as it was removed completely from the box.

"Oh, Jack."

The picture was a profile of Jackson with her eyes closed as she played her recorder. Erin remembered that day so vividly: the blue sky, the calm waters, and the serenity she felt when she was with her best friend. She trailed her fingertip over the image on the canvas, her heart breaking all over again. Putting the drawing down, she slumped against the wall, reached inside her b.u.t.ton-down s.h.i.+rt, and rubbed the pigmented skin above her left breast. "I'm so sorry."

Erin stayed in that position for almost an hour. Grace crawled into her lap and contentedly fell asleep. Erin's memories plagued her already tortured soul as she idly stroked the cat's fur. With Jeremy soon to be out of her life, she would have no one. Well, no one but Kim. ... Uggh, the gallery!

"Come on, Gracie. I've gotta get this stuff together or Kim will have my hide."

Erin got up and started to collect some of her works for an upcoming show. Since Kim had opened the door to opportunity when she'd needed it, Erin continued to use her gallery as her hub. Kim was very grateful to her young protege.

In a mutually beneficial relations.h.i.+p, Erin knew that The Parks Gallery had done well with her works; people called from all over asking where they could find more of her paintings. Hence, her upcoming show. Commissions also came all the time and Erin fulfilled what she could. Sometimes the images came clearly and other times she had to turn down requests. If her heart couldn't see it, the creativity just wouldn't come.

2002 The IslandCity Jackson Thomas reviewed her lesson plans for the next week and tucked the paperwork inside her brown leather briefcase. Relaxing in her recliner, she closed her eyes and smiled in the knowledge that summer vacation would begin in a few weeks. She could then use that time to catch up on things at the resort that had been niggling her.

It had been five years since she'd gotten her teaching certification. Once she'd figured out what she wanted to do when she grew up, it had been easy. She taught music to gifted middle school children during the school year and helped her Aunt Jackie run the Island City Resort. There was always something to do there. Cabins needed upgrading, boats needed winterizing, the landscape needed tending, but all in all it was a wonderful place to be. All too soon it'll just be me.

Hearing the small bell ring, Jackson blinked her eyes and hurried to her aunt's bedroom to see what she needed. The ailing woman was in bed, covers tucked tightly around her and an oxygen mask over her mouth. Jackson put on her happy face.

"Hey, Jackie. What can I get you?" she asked, running her fingers through the thinning hair of her aunt. "Do you need something to drink?"

With a small nod, Jackie rasped through the mask, "Yes, please. My throat is dry."

Jackson removed the mask, grabbed the gla.s.s from the bedside table, and held the straw to parched lips to allow her aunt a few good gulps of water before putting the mask back in place. It broke Jackson's heart to see her aunt hooked up to so many devices. Machines directed medicine into the frail body through intravenous tubes. Jackie's hands were bruised from the needles being inserted and removed.

"Thank you," Jackie whispered.

As Jackson sat on the bed, there was a light knock on the door. Jackie's night nurse, Cindy, had arrived for her s.h.i.+ft.

"How's my girl doing today?" she asked brightly, bringing a smile to the faces of both women.

Jackie gave Cindy an "okay" sign with her bruised hand. A string of harsh coughs erupted from her body. Jackson jumped off the bed so Cindy could raise it to try and ease her patient's coughing. After a few unbearable moments, the coughing subsided and Jackie was breathing more comfortably.

Cindy and Jackson exchanged a worried look, then returned their gazes to the woman in bed. Jackson gently held Jackie's hand and started humming to her. The familiar tunes were a comfort to both women. Songs Jackie had taught her niece were ones she and her sister had known when they were kids. Jackson's fingers idly combed through the hair on her aunt's head until she drifted off to sleep. Feeling the grip on her hand relax, Jackson knew she'd finally fallen into a deep sleep.

Caring for the woman who'd raised her had been an easy decision for Jackson. She wanted Jackie at home instead of in a hospital, knowing quite well her aunt would not want to make her final departure from this world from any other place. The IslandCity had been her home almost her entire life. When her parents left the resort to her in their will, Jackie had been more than willing to keep the place going. Jackie had raised her to love and respect nature, and in doing so, she'd learned to love the resort just as much. No one but her would be running the IslandCity until she found someone to run it with her. Or perhaps, like w.i.l.l.y Wonka, she could find a child, so she too could raise them to respect and love this place as much as she did. Unfortunately, I don't think osmosis can produce a child for my future. And I certainly don't wanna start casing my own school.

With Jackie asleep, Cindy ushered Jackson out of the bedroom and closed the door. A worry line etched her face. "The pneumonia has gotten worse really quickly, Jack. I want to be honest with you and not sugarcoat it."

Jackson nodded. Knowing where Cindy was headed, she braced herself. "How much time do we have?"

"Unless a miracle happens, I don't think she has more than a couple of weeks." She hesitated. "If that."

The news, as dire as it was, wasn't surprising to Jackson. Until six months ago, she'd thought her aunt was the picture of health. Then she'd seen Jackie's physical condition plummet after the chemotherapy treatments. The colorectal cancer she was fighting wasn't even going to be the disease that killed her. As a side effect of her treatments, Jackie's immune system had shut down and she developed pneumonia. Now she was as weak as a newborn kitten and Jackson was unable to fix her. Both Cindy and Janet, the day nurse, loved Jackie from day one. They would have done anything for her, but all they could do was pray that the medicines would cure the pneumonia so the rest of her body would have the chance to rebuild its strength.

"So what do we do next?" Jackson asked.

"Just keep her as comfortable as possible. Janet and I will do our part, as will her doctor. It's up to her and G.o.d now."

Jackson didn't want to debate with Cindy about G.o.d. She hadn't known Him to play fair with the people in her life, but didn't want to upset anyone else. "I'm heading outside for a bit to make sure our guests have everything they need. When she wakes up, let me know, okay?"

"Okay, Jack." Cindy put a hand on her shoulder. "You're doing the best you can for her. Never doubt that."

"Thanks, Cindy."

Jackson left the main cabin with one destination in mind. She climbed the ladder leading to the roof of the boathouse. When she reached the top, she let the tears come. She couldn't begin to count the number of times she had cried up there. Anytime she was riddled with sadness, she would go up there and unleash it into the wind. She sat with her denim-clad legs hanging over the side. Far below, she could see schools of fish swimming in the water. Closing her eyes, the tears came in earnest.

"I think this is it. I don't think she can beat this anymore." Her tears fell into the water below. "I hate doing this alone!" she cried.

Jackson had had a few girlfriends through the years, but none held her heart the way Erin had. She had even considered settling on one girl, Marcie, but knew it wouldn't be fair to herself, or to Marcie. It was the closest Jackson had come to wanting more than just a physical relations.h.i.+p with someone. But when her eyes opened in the mornings and met the brown eyes of her lover, her heart just couldn't do it. She bade Marcie farewell and had been alone since. That was over a year ago. Once Jackie became ill, she had no time to give to a girlfriend anyway.