Countdown - Iris Johansen [152]
“Cira!”
“By the gods, Antonio.” Her lids flipped open. “I told you I wasn’t going to die. I’m just tired. I’ve no time to comfort you any more now. Shut up or go away while I go about having this child.”
“I’ll shut up.”
“Good. I like you with me. . . .”
MacDuff answered his phone on the fifth ring. He sounded sleepy.
“How many children did Cira have?” Jane asked when he picked up.
“What?”
“Did she have just one? Did she die in childbirth?”
“Why do you want to know?”
“Tell me.”
“According to family legend Cira had four children. I don’t know how she died but she was a very old lady.”
Jane breathed a sigh of relief. “Thanks.” She had a sudden thought. “Where are you?”
“Canada.”
“Have you found Jock?”
“Not yet. But I will.”
“Sorry to wake you. Good night.”
MacDuff chuckled. “My pleasure. I’m glad you’re thinking about us.” He hung up.
“Everything okay?” Eve was standing in the doorway of Jane’s bedroom.
“Fine.” Jane pressed the disconnect. “I just had to check on something.”
“At this hour?”
“It seemed urgent at the time.” She got out of bed and put on her robe. “Come on. We might as well go get a hot chocolate since we’re both awake. You’ve been working so hard that I’ve scarcely had a chance to talk to you since I got home.” She made a face as she headed for the door. “Of course, some of that is my fault. I’ve been going to bed early and getting up late. I don’t know what’s been wrong with me. I feel as if I’ve been on narcotics.”
“Exhaustion. Backlash from Mike’s death, not to mention what you went through in Idaho.” She followed Jane to the kitchen. “I was glad to see you resting for a change. When are you going back to school?”
“Soon. I missed too much time this quarter. I’ll have to do some catching up.”
“And then?”
“I don’t know.” She smiled. “Maybe I’ll hang out here until you kick me out.”
“That’s no threat. Joe and I would like that.” She spooned instant cocoa into two cups. “But I don’t believe we have a chance in hell.” She poured the hot water. “Another dream, Jane?”
She nodded. “But not a scary one.” She wrinkled her nose. “Unless you call having a baby scary.”
Eve nodded. “And full of wonder.”
“I thought the dreams would stop when Cira got out of the tunnel. It seems I’m stuck with her.”
Eve gave Jane her cup. “And that upsets you?”
“No, I guess not. She’s become a good friend over the years.” She headed for the porch. “But sometimes she leaves me hanging.”
“You’re not upset about her any longer.” Eve half sat on the porch rail. “Before, you were pretty defensive.”
“Because I didn’t know why I was having those damn dreams. I couldn’t find any logical sequence that would have explained them.”
“And now you have?”
“Demonidas was on record. He might have had other records than the ones we found. I might have picked up something about Cira from him.”
“Or you might not.”
“You’re a great help.”
“If MacDuff told you the truth about you being a descendant of Cira’s, then there might be an answer there.” Eve looked out at the lake. “I’ve heard there’s such a thing as racial memory.”
“Translated into dreams that I can almost step into? That’s reaching, Eve.”
“It’s the best I can do.” She paused. “You told me once that you wondered if Cira was trying to make contact, trying to stop the use to which her gold was being put.”
“In one of my nuttier moments.” She sat down on the porch step and patted Toby, who was lying stretched out on the step below her. “Not that I’ve had many coolly rational moments since Cira started paying me nocturnal visits. It’s okay, I’ve gotten used to her. I even missed her when she stopped coming for a while.”
“I can understand that,” Eve said.
“I know you can.” Jane looked up at her. “You understand everything I’ve ever gone through. That’s why I can talk to you when I