Days folded into nights and nights opened a Pandora box of nightmares for Maeva. Dreaming of Sky asking for help, calling her name, or drowning became a common occurrence. Her mind was growing tired, her body, thin and dark circles were now tattooed under her eyes.

 

The domain team, as all of Sky’s project team, had been interviewed at length. No evidence specific to Sky’s disappearance came to light. They did find Sky’s and Maeva’s fingerprints in the stables, as well as the Stables Caretaker’s prints. They were also found almost everywhere else on the domain. DNA was found too. They had linked the findings with individuals that would frequent those places in their caretakers’ roles and duties.  Wherever they found Maeva’s DNA was easily explained by her being around that area regularly or with her deposition in which she mentioned she had gone to the stables to look for Sky that evening.

 

However, Maeva was not satisfied. As for her theory, it was true that the fencing around the property to stop any animal, horse or human from accessing the slippery soil at the edge of the cliffs, was not damaged. For Maeva’s theory to be correct, the horse had to jump over the fence without touching it. For that reason, the investigator had not even hinted at this possibility in his report. The fencing was intact. Maeva knew that Sky was a good enough rider to hold back the horse, but with all the aggravating factors present; wild horse, bareback riding and Sky not being prepared for a wild ride, things could easily have gone sideways. That stallion had the ability to jump over an obstacle, but he didn’t know the environment. He could have plunged right over the edge dragging his rider with him. There was still a mystery left; why didn’t Sky jump off that horse when he saw where it was headed? And what about everything other possibility?

 

There were different periods in Sky’s life that she thought she might explore further; if not to find him, to at least get to talk about him with other individuals that had lived alongside him, even if only for a short time. His parents had recently passed away. First, his mother who passed from dementia related complications. Then, his father, who Maeva was certain, had died from a broken heart. First his wife and then his first-born son. It was too much for him. There was only Joe and his sister left to reminisce about their childhood. She had never kept contact with his sister, neither had Sky. Maybe, she could find a boarding school friend? She recalled Tommy. Maybe she would find him on social media.

 

Maeva started thinking about finding people according to the different rumors Joe was spreading on his brother and meeting with them to confirm or infirm what was said about Sky. It would take some travelling on her part. Maeva would not consider travelling without her daughter. She had only one parent left. How could she do that to her? Would it be possible to travel with Neve and Yvonne? Maeva debated going or not for a few weeks, all the while going about doing some writing, and going all around the domain on horseback. Instead of avoiding the location where she thought Sky had fallen to his death, she always stopped, got off the horse and crossed over to walk to the edge of the cliffs. The view was extraordinary and this where she felt the closest to him. Was she imagining it? Probably, but she felt good when she sat there looking at the ocean. Everyday, Maeva and Neve would visit the stables and the barns. Neve loved to pet the horses. At the beginning, they were edgy. Now, she could put the toddler down and the horses would go to her, put their heads down to be petted or to nibbled on her hair. She especially wanted Sky’s horse to adopt Neve as a new master. The horse would be hers to keep for as long as it lived. The horse was young. One of the characters he played rode a horse, and they had such a strong bond that he bought it from the enterprise that provided horses to movie sets. He called him Snow. Neve also loved to visit the small barn with all the smaller animals. She would go around picking up rabbits, chicks, baby cats and they even had a family of martens for awhile. The female had come in for rest after being hunted and hurt by a wolf. Once it was better, it left but, it brought back her babies with her the next day. From that time on the family slept in the barn and went hunting during the day.

​

​

​

One summer morning, the coat man rang their doorbell. Maeva had gotten used to him as time went by and he became less threatening and more of a team player. The investigator was a tall thin man. Having an ectomorphic body type, he seemed to thin for his height. His black hair almost shone blue and he had beady black eyes borrowed under dark thick brows. He had mellowed out once he concluded that Maeva was being truthful. She wondered why he was at the farmhouse. She always dreaded receiving news from official sources.

 

“Good morning, Sir. What can I do for you?”, she greeted him with a polite smile.

 

“Just came back to make sure everything is good here? As we ended the extra security last week, I wanted to reassure myself that we were not making a mistake.”, he said. He seemed genuine and was smiling. Maeva wondered if she has ever seen him smile.

 

“It might be too soon to say. My security has not reported any trespassing.”, said Maeva. Coat man didn’t seem to want to leave. Yvonne was out on a walk with Neve. She wanted to use this time to go to the office and write. She guessed that she could offer him a cuppa tea or coffee. She hoped he wouldn’t stay long. He delightfully accepted. He came up the stairs behind her and, after taking his coat off, he settled on one of the recliners. Maeva felt he had something to say, but it was as if he needed some time to get it out. She really hoped it wasn’t anything serious.

 

“Should I put milk? Sugar in your coffee?”, she asked.

 

“Oh no. I drink it black.”. he said smiling.

 

Maeva was reminded of Sky. He always drank his coffee black. She made herself a latte and brought both mugs in the living room. She handed him his and took hers across the room to her favorite chair. She sat thinking about what kind of conversation to have with that man.

 

“How are you doing, Mrs. Hawthorne?

 

“I am doing as good as I can, I guess. I have my daughter to keep me well. I also have Yvonne, Victor and everybody of this domain to help me.”, she said.

 

“I will be honest with you. You don’t look so good. Is there anything I can help you with? Apart from your husband’s disappearing, is there some other type of difficulty you are encountering?”, he asked sipping his coffee.

 

“What kind of difficulty do you mean?”, she asked, perplexed.

 

“Family problems? Have been in touch with your Mr. Hawthorne’s family?”, he asked.

 

“I talk to my sister-in-law couple times a month. I don’t see what you are getting at.”, Maeva was wide-eye, still wondering what he meant.

 

“Our investigation led us in a completely different direction.”, he said directly looking at her.

 

“OK. I am still not understanding.”

 

“We have many different experts who support us with investigations. My team and I always make a first analysis of the evidence, findings or documents we gather during an investigation. Then, if we need something extracted from a cell, let’s say, or if we have a question or simply want a better look into bank statements and so on, we use those experts. This time, as the financial documents, bank accounts and purchases, automatic withdrawals and all, were extensive and varied, we sent all financial matters directly to our financial expert, which is also an investigator.”, explained the coat man. Maeva was listening and starting to understand where this conversation might lead to.

 

“What did you find?”, she asked, eagerly waiting for his answer.

 

“Have you been reviewing the accounts lately?”, he asked.

 

“No, Sky had people doing that for him. They are still taken care of his portfolio, making sure all salary are paid as they should and that I receive an allowance for neve and myself.”, she answered.

 

“You have added an authorized person to Sky’s accounts. Why?”, he asked again.

 

“I see. I know what you are getting to.”, said Maeva. “It’s a family matter.”.

 

“In circumstances such as these, the fact that Mr. Hawthorne, a very rich individual, has gone missing; I need to understand why you are doing this. It shows you have suspicions.”, He finished his coffee in one gulp. “And I need you to be truthful.”. Maeva took her cell from her pocket. She brought it to her ears.

 

“Hello Gerald. How are you?”, she said. “I have the investigator in front of me right now. He wants to know why you were recently authorized in Sky’s and my accounts.”, she put the phone on speaker and placed in on the corner table.

 

“Good day Sir. Mr. Hawthorne gave me a special mandate in case of anything happening to him. I am to be Mrs. Hawthorne’s and Neve Cantley-Hawthorne’s lawyer and need to take care of their interests in all matters. You know that, right?” started Gerald. “A year ago, on February 15, Mrs. Hawthorne informed me that she had not be advised that in the occurrence of demise happening to Mr. Hawthorne, she would share Power of Attorney with Mr. Hawthorne’s Administrative Lawyer, Mr. Joe Hawthorne. I have since then corrected the matter by filing the necessary forms. Mrs. Hawthorne has now asked me to take a look at Mr. Hawthorne’s different financial files and portfolios to simply make sure all is in order and legal.”.

 

“And thank you so much for taking care of this, Gerald.”, said Maeva.

 

“Did you submit a report?”, asked the coat man.

 

“Not yet. I have just started.”

 

“Can you send me a copy as well?”

 

“If Mrs. Hawthorne accepts.”

 

“Whether she agrees or not, I insist. It is an official request.”, said the Coat man back to his serious professional self. “Mrs. Hawthorne. Do you suspect any fraud?”, he asked Maeva.

 

“No, I don’t. I do wonder why he didn’t inform me of what my rights are. So, I simply wanted to be thorough. This will be Neve’s inheritance, and I will never bring in as much as Sky’s did. I want to protect it, and I though we could make some adjustments, if needed. We don’t use all the money we are being given, Neve and I. Gerald thought it was right to do this as I want to keep a tighter reign on the financial matters.”, Maeva hoped there wouldn’t be anymore questions in her finances.

 

“I understand, Mrs. Hawthorne. At this point, you do not have to keep me updated on your life. I would still like you to remember that the investigation into your husband disappearance is ongoing. If you have any new information about incidents that could possibly be related to that, I will need to know about it. Do you understand?”, the coat man said. Maeva did understand, but it was slightly confusing. It was her private affairs and her life. Did she believe it was related to Sky’s disappearance? No, it was his brother.

 

“Gerald, what do you think? Do you think it could be related to Sky’s disappearance?”, Maeva wanted his advice. He hesitated.

 

“I would not think so, but I do know the statistics on family involvement during murders or stuff of the sort. It is high. I will be advising you to call the police anytime, I see it could be important to let them know.”, he said.

 

“Call me directly. Here is my card again, Mrs. Hawthorne.”, he tried to give her his card, which she refused.

 

“I think I have one in each room of the house. I do not need another. I also have you on speed dial.”, she positioned herself to see his to the door. “Thank you, Gerald. I will talk to you later, OK?”, she hung up and went down to the door.

 

“Goodbye! Thank you.”, she closed the door as he was leaving. Maeva laid back on the door and took a deep breath. She had seen Yvonne turning the corner with Neve in the stroller and she wanted to greet them with a better mindset.

 

 

 

Strangely, as Maeva was getting older, her appearance became even more striking. The white mane was still there. She now wore them mostly up. If she let them down, the waves and curls Sky was enamoured with, were tamed from the hours being rolled onto her head. Her figure was still mature, but not full anymore. She looked fragile. Still, she did look much younger than her fifty-six, three-hundred-sixty degree turns of the earth.

 

As days went by, life stayed the same, but the people changed. Yvonne, older than Maeva, was slowing down. Sky’s disappearance had hit her as hard as the rest of his family. Sky’s mother passed away a few months after. Maeva sent her heartfelt condolences, but she didn’t attend the celebration of life.  Maeva was just not in a state to attend. She hadn’t heard of Joe or Kate, in forever. All of Sky’s career team had dissolved. Jess never contacted Maeva again. Maeva had asked Gerald to check their contracts and close up their employment file with a last severance pay which was extremely generous. Maeva noticed that, when someone passes away, you receive condolences cards or messages. When someone just goes missing, people do not know what to say. They simply do say anything at all. Legally, Sky would be considered deceased seven years after his disappearance. As for her status, she would be married to a ghost until then. She wondered if there was a “sarcastic” stage in the grieving process. She felt that was exactly where she was at. With the pragmatic views it brought was also a spark of interest in taking care of herself better. She went into their closet for the first time since he went missing. After spending some time touching and smelling his clothes, she decided to try on some of her preferred everyday clothes. It would be nice to get out of jeans and t-shirts mode. She had not realized she had lost so much weight. Everything was too big for her, mainly at the waist, buttocks and on her breasts. She stood there for awhile, wondering what she should do. She wondered if Sky’s tailor would still recognize her as a client. She decided to call and ask if, with her new measurements in hand, they would be able to adjust some pieces. They were some dresses that she wouldn’t wear again, but all her preferred everyday clothes, she certainly would.

 

Neve was changing faster than anyone else. Now she never walked. She ran everywhere she wanted to go, even if it meant getting hurt almost every time, she did. She ate the same meals they ate; she used her fork and knife. She didn’t like getting her hands dirty anymore. Maeva thought she would be easy to travel with. She decided it was the perfect time to start doing her own search of Sky. She still held on to her own theory, but they were a few others she had wanted to check before really hanging on to her own even if they were no evidence corroborating it. She wanted to go back as far as Sky’s days at Boarding School. This meant she would need to speak to Tommy.

 

That night, the full moon hung in the polka dots dark sky drape. Maeva went to sleep, feeling better knowing her life would soon fill up with a story board of Sky’s life.