Chapter 8: 8 – A Message from Fiona

Six weeks after our first interview with Agnes, she made contact with Dr. Pendle to say that she’d been having the strangest dreams since she told him about Fiona’s disappearance. Every night, she saw the same things, like a story being told over and over again.

“I think it’s a message from Fiona,” she told him. “She knows I’m talking about what happened, and she’s sending me a message.”

Dr. Pendle told her we’d come back to talk to her in person that weekend. We left Glasgow on a drizzly October morning, but once we’d left the grey, flat, urban landscape behind, we found ourselves basking in buttery sunshine that warmed our faces through the car windows. When we arrived in Kenmore, I hopped out of the car and breathed in the invigorating Highland air. I wished I could bottle it and take it back to the city with me, to replace the stale air that filled my small room.

Agnes greeted us warmly, and said that she’d booked a table at the restaurant over the bridge. “They do the best fish and chips in the world there, in my humble opinion.”

The restaurant had three glass walls, giving us a breath-taking view out over Loch Tay. Once we’d ordered, Dr. Pendle asked Agnes if she wanted to tell us about her dreams.

“Are you going to film me again? I don’t want to go on camera stuffing fish and chips in my face.”

Dr. Pendle laughed. “We’ll just use an audio recorder, if that’s okay with you. We won’t transcribe any of the chewing noises that any of us make.”

Agnes smiled. “Well, that’s fine then. Now I don’t know whether you thought I was just a crazy old so-and-so when we first met-.”

She paused, and Dr. Pendle said quickly, “Of course not.”

“Well, you might think so now. I’m not exaggerating the truth when I say that I’ve had the dream every night, practically since the day you were first here.”

She took a long sip of water, and continued. “I’m standing in my usual spot, on the shores of the loch. Do you remember it?”

“I do indeed,” Dr. Pendle said, nodding.

“Fiona’s voice comes to me, like she’s calling to me from a tunnel. She calls to me three times, and I call back to her. Then, I feel a pulsing heat right where my heart is in my chest, and I know it’s Fiona’s doing. She’s giving me that feeling. It’s not painful, or frightening at all – just reassuring, and soothing, and loving.”

Agnes’s eyes well up with tears, and she stares down at the table for a moment, before continuing. “And then I’m no longer looking out across the water, but beneath it – far, far below the surface. At first all I can see is murky greyness, but then my vision clears and I see it – the entrance to a cave. In a split second I’m inside the cave, which is filled with soft golden light. It’s like a cozy cottage, in the depths of the sea. And I know with absolute certainty that it’s my Fiona’s house. It’s full of such happiness, such peace. That’s what my Fiona wants me to know – that she’s safe, and happy, and I mustn’t worry. She wants me to know that she’s in a good place.”

The waitress comes with our fish and chips, and I see Dr. Pendle give me a quick look. I wonder if he thinks I’ve been holding out on him, that I have such visions and dreams, too. I don’t, and I’m disappointed I don’t. I’d give just about anything to have Rufus visit my dreams, and tell me that he’s in a good place.

“Can you tell us more?” Dr. Pendle prompts her.

“Just that, in the dream, I move through the house into a chamber, that leads out into an open space, like a grand square in the middle of a city. I know that sounds ridiculous, because we’re talking about underground dwellings, but that’s how I see it. Fiona’s home, the homes of others, are all connected to this middle space. A bit like an octopus, with lots of tentacles.”

She takes a bite out of a chip, and wafts her hand in front of her mouth. “Ooh – hot! Be careful. Don’t be a greedy-guts like me.”

Reverse psychology: Dr. Pendle, Max and I all stuff chips in our mouths. They are extremely hot, and very delicious.

“Anyway, I know that it might just be my old brain trying to comfort me into thinking that she’s okay. But the dream feels very real. I know this sounds ridiculous, but I’d love for it to be true.”

“It doesn’t sound ridiculous at all,” Dr. Pendle says kindly. “Every one of us at this table knows that reason and logic can’t explain some of the things we know to be true. We’re just at the very beginning of building a body of empirical evidence about what is still widely thought to be unknowable. Unbelievable, to some. Fantasy.”

“Thank heavens for you, Dr. Pendle,” Agnes says, spearing another chip. “And for you, Max, and for you, Thom. You’re the only ones who don’t think I’ve lost my marbles.”

*

Remembering that day, I know what I have to do: I need to tell Dr. Pendle what happened today. Listening to stories that are far stranger than fiction is what he does, and he does it compassionately and seemingly without judgement. It’s too big not to tell him. If I’d been alone, I might have convinced myself I imagined it, but Ondine witnessed the whole thing.

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Oh no – Ondine. My cheeks flush when I think about her there with me when it happened. There’s a quiet but firm knock at my door, and I know without question that it’s her.

“Thom? Are you in there?” I hear the door handle jiggle. “You must be, because you’ve locked yourself in. Can we talk now?”

I swing the door open, and she staggers, almost losing her balance. She must have been pressing up against the door. I close the door behind her, gesture for her to sit down, then say, “I need to talk to Dr. Pendle,” at the exact same time as she says, “You need to tell Pendle.”

“Well, that’s settled then,” she says with a smile.

I ask her if there is any chance it was all a coincidence, that the boy got carried back to the sand bar by a wave.

Ondine bites her lip and says, “There were no waves – or there might have been, but they were too small to do anything like wash him back towards shore. Plus, there’s the fact that you raised your hand, and small sparks of blue light shot out from the tips of your fingers.”

“What?!”

She laughs. “Just kidding. But as soon as you raised your hand there was a low humming noise that stopped as soon as he was safe. And there was a kind of warm rush of air, too. Didn’t you hear the sound, or feel the heat?”

I shake my head. “It all happened so quickly.”

She nods. “It really did. I mean, I guess it could be a coincidence, but we both think something strange happened today. Strange in a good way, of course, but strange nonetheless.”

I nod, hoping she’ll go with me to talk to Dr. Pendle. It’s not that I’m afraid to talk to him, it’s just – it is strange, and it will sound strange, and having her with me to back up my story will make me feel better.

“Thom, I have to ask you something – has anything like this ever happened before?”

“Never. Well, not in real life – I mean never in my waking life. In my dreams, I’m able to lift water up like it’s light fabric, and see what’s under the surface. But that’s it.”

“Could you see under the water today?”

“No, I didn’t see anything, but it didn’t take any effort to lift him up – if that was what I did - so that part was like the dream.”

“I don’t think there’s any question that you saved him today, even if you don’t understand how you did it.”

A wave of exhaustion hits me, and I press my fingers into the sides of my head. Ondine says, “Hey, what are you doing – trying to read my thoughts?”

I open my right eye, and say, “You’re thinking I have hidden depths you never could have dreamed of.”

She smiles. “Well, that’s just stating the bleeding obvious.”

“You’re thinking you found me really annoying until today, but my super-powered fingers are making you look at me in a different light.”

“I don’t like where this is going,” she groans.

“Not in a romantic light – in a ‘He’s such a hero’ light.”

“I wouldn’t argue with that.” She opens the door, and gestures for me to follow. “Now come on, hero - let’s go and tell Pendle all about your hidden depths.”

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