"Redemption's Run": Chapter 4 continues

A Star Tribune serialized novel by Jane Fredericksen

Chapter 4

The story so far: A mysterious man ties a wind chime onto Gina's casket.

Kacie felt she'd heard that voice long ago, in a dream. She answered in the same dreamlike way. "My name is Kacie."

"Kacie." He tried the name on his tongue, practicing it. "Kacie, I'm so sorry." He extended his hand slowly.

Kacie took it, but did not take her eyes from his, searching for the story beyond. She could not read it, could not open the cover. It was a book that, for now, remained tightly closed, carefully shelved.

She let go, for the moment. The man glanced over Kacie's shoulder.

Thea stiffened, but ignored him, as if he were invisible.

The man turned away, crossed to the back of the room and sat down.

Kacie's eyes followed him. She tapped Thea.

"Who is that?" Kacie whispered.

But just then, the minister entered, and Thea raised a finger to her lips.

The wind chime on the casket gave a quiet ting.

The minister glanced at it and frowned. He continued. "Let us bow our heads."

There was a rustle as the mourners complied.

"Heavenly Father," the minister intoned. "We trust your loving hand to save us from stormy winds and waves of grief. For you have promised, 'I shall not leave you as orphans …' "

Startled, Kacie looked up.

Kacie bowed her head again.

"Who art in heaven …"

Kacie echoed the words.

"Hallowed be Thy name … "

Suddenly, the back door slammed. Kacie turned with the rest of the mourners to look. And she noticed the empty seat.

* * *

At the end of the service, both the minister and the funeral director tried to remove the wind chime from Gina's casket, but it was fixed with a tight bowline on a bight. They tangled it beyond hope, until one of the pallbearers stepped forward and severed the string with a knife.

When they moved to discard the chime, Kacie pretended to become hysterical. It had to be buried with her mother, she insisted, and they relented because they didn't want to upset the poor child — just as Kacie knew they would.

So the wind chime was placed carefully in the coffin and the lid lowered.

There was a thin, relentless drizzle by the time they reached the cemetery. The graveside service was brief. At Kacie's request, only family members attended. Since Gina had no family besides Kacie, that meant Thea, Pete, Ronnie, Bernie and a few of Kacie's favorite waiters and waitresses, cooks and customers.

Maybe it never gets better, Kacie thought glumly. Maybe it only takes a spark to set it off again. Her own thoughts grew cloudy, until she remembered the wind chime, safe in her mother's casket. It was a tiny victory in a sea of injustice, but the memory gave her comfort and clarity.

The wind-chime hanger, however, did not appear.