Part Eleven: Spirit Wind



Tap...tap tap tap taptap.

Rahab opened her eyes. The sun was bright, shining even through the paper shades that covered the window, making her eyes hurt. She sneezed.

Tap tap tap... the sound that had awakened her was clearly coming from outside. What was it? Who was doing it? For some reason, she felt afraid. She didn't want to open the shade to look, she didn't want to see what it was. She huddled deeper in the down comforter. It was summer, how could it be cold? She rolled over. Raphael was gone. So what else is new? He was always going off, she grumbled to herself.

Tap tap taptaptap. She jerked her head toward the window again. Maybe it was a tree branch blowing in the wind, against the window.

Tap taptap.

"Mommy?" Gaele's voice.

"Be right there, baby," Rahab answered automatically, kicking off the covers. "Where are you?"

"Mommy?"

Tap tap tap...

Rahab brushed the hair out of her eyes. "Are you outside?"

"Mommy!"

Taptap tap...tap.

She approached the window, and reached for the shade. "Honey, what are you doing out there?" The shade fell as she tried to jog it aside. "You shouldn't be-" The rest of her words were lost when she saw the black figure framed in bright white, in the window.

As its head pressed against the panes, she saw it had no face, only a ragged, bloody human skull, exposed teeth snarling at her, as its rotting fingers screeled against the glass. "Mommeeeee..."

Rahab sucked her breath in noisily, as she scrambled backward, but her legs tangled in the fallen shade as the window exploded inward, shards of shimmering glass crashing around her. The grinning corpse stalked her, slow as a spider, pale bones showing through black rags that hung from its decomposing body. It fell on her, smothering her, as she shrieked. Someone was shouting at her, trying to hold her down. She fought and kicked savagely, but she was pinned.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!"

"Rahab! Take it easy! Bad dream, STOP it!" She looked and saw darkness, and a face hovering over her. She gasped and struggled in its embrace. "It's okay, it's me. Calm down."

She panted as though she had been running hard, and she was bathed in sweat. A light came on, and she could see Raphael's bewildered expression. "What happened?" she croaked.

"You must have been having some kinda nightmare," he said quietly as he released his grip on her. "I thought I was having one when you started clawing me..." He looked ruefully at the red lines on his forearms. "...jeez."

"I'm sorry. I just..." She swallowed. "Just don't leave me alone anymore, okay? Why can't you be here when I wake up?"

He blinked at her. "Huh?"

"I hate it when you aren't here when I wake up! I HATE it!" She started to cry.

He reached for her, and held her firmly. "Okay, I'll be here. I didn't know it bothered you so much."

Someone tapped quietly on the door to the bedroom.

"Don't answer it," Rahab hissed, grabbing Raphael's arm.

"Why not?" Raphael gave her a puzzled look. "WHO?" he called to the door.

"You guys okay in there?" It was Mike's voice, gutteral with sleep.

"Yeah, we're okay, Rahab was just fooling around. No biggie," Raph said, grinning at Rahab.

She heard Mike growl in annoyance. "Keep it down, will ya? You're gonna wake Gaele up."

"Sorry," Rahab sighed.

Mike moved off, muttering something about waking the dead, which disturbed Rahab. She sank back into the sheets, shivering.

Raphael settled in beside her. "What's with you?"

"Are there really ghosts?" she asked suddenly.

"What?" He pulled the covers over himself.

"Ghosts... if you... do anyone in, do- do they... haunt-haunt you?" Her voice faded to a terrified whisper, as she hunched up against him.

"Hey, relax...naw, ghosts don't do that. What, did you dream of ghosts?"

She told him about her nightmare.

"Ew," he said lightly. "That's disgusting."

"Raph, I'm serious. It scares me to even THINK about it." She sat up and looked at him. "You've been through this, haven't you? Because of what you've... done?"

He held his hands out. "I haven't done anything to anybody."

"You haven't?"

"Not anything bad. Uh, maybe it was bad for the other guy, but he asked for it, that's all I can say. It's not like somebody was just walking down the street, minding his own business and I thought it would be fun to jump him. Usually it's the other way around."

"But... that won't stop them from wanting revenge," Rahab said, and shuddered.

Raphael lowered his head like a bull. "Tell you what," he said tensely. "Next time you have that dream, IF it happens again, you say 'Hey, ASS ho- uh- hey, JERK! Get lost, or I'll DISS you again!' Then you go after him, and you OFF 'em. Got that?"

"In my dream?"

"Yeah. That's how you do nightmares. Show the monsters you aren't scared, pretend not to be, anyway, and stand your ground. Slap 'em, kick their guts out, knock their heads off! Do whatever you want! It's only a dream. They really can't hurt YOU, and they can't control you, but you can smush 'em like an ol' cockroach..."

Rahab frowned at him.

"What?"

"I HATE the way you talk, sometimes." she muttered.

He looked confused a moment, then grinned. "Okay, here's a scenario. Suppose about eight guys jump in front of you in some blind alley behind the Seven-Eleven on a Saturday night. What are you gonna do, talk like Miss Manners? No, you gotta talk mean, warn 'em off, and they just might decide you aren't worth laying into, and split. It's better that way. They get a little wiser, and nobody gets hurt. If they are too stupid to lay off, then they get a lesson from the University of Hard Knox. If they still don't get educated, then you show 'em how emergency rooms work. If they come back for more, maybe packing heat and playin' for keeps, then some undertaker will get to buy himself another nice, shiny, new Mercedes. It's as simple as that."

"Oh," Rahab said. She lay back, and stared at the ceiling. "Still, I dread falling asleep..."

Raphael leaned over and kissed her shoulder, with a mischievous look in his eye. "What makes you THINK I'm gonna let you fall asleep?"



Mike was the only one who didn't react with some degree of enthusiasm to the news of Rahab's pregnancy. He politely declined any participation in the celebration. His attention to Gaele was unchanged, but there was something about him that was different, Rahab noticed. He seemed preoccupied, almost...desperate. Raphael was in an unusually good mood, so she decided not to bring her concern to him, but wait... and keep an eye on Mike.

That evening, Raphael led her into another part of the compound, past gates and gardens, and a catacomb of hallways. They entered an anteroom, where Leo spent most of his time, within earshot of his master's summons. He smiled at Rahab, and led the the way through a curtain of tiny glass beads, that chorused crystalline clinks whenever they were moved. It was a beautiful, peaceful sound, and her nervousness melted away.

The room was dark, lit only by a few candles in a dish on a low table. There were several seat cushions in front of a broad bed, and an armchair with a hassock in the corner. The bed was in the exact middle of the rear wall, and a small, furry figure bundled in a pale blue bathrobe lay in it, its upper body propped up with pillows.

Leo and Raphael bowed deeply, as they entered the room. Rahab didn't know what to do, but Raph led her to the armchair and she sat.

"Sensei, this is Rahab, Raphael's wife," Leo said, gesturing at her.

The tiny, grey-whiskered, sharp nosed face turned in her direction, with eyes as bright as new pennies.

"Rahab, this is the honorable Master Splinter." Leo bowed deeply again, Raphael followed suit.

Splinter tossed the introduction aside with an impatient wave. "Thank you, Leonardo. An impeccable introduction as always," he said in a voice that sounded like windblown sand. He had a heavy accent she assumed was Japanese, and he had a curious way of pronouncing Leo's name. An amusing thought came to her. Why did Splinter name his charges such difficult names for him to pronounce? All those Ls and Rs... Raphael's sharp glance at her made her realize she had missed Splinter's question.

"I'm- I'm sorry?"

Splinter crinkled his eyes in amusement. "I trust you are well?"

"Oh, yes," she said brightly. "And how are you?"

Raphael looked imploringly at the cieling. What did I do now, she thought as she watched him.

"Ah. As well as an old rat can be, with Leonardo fussing about as nursemaid," Splinter rasped, patting the edge of the comforter that came up to his chest.

Raphael snorted softly.

Splinter directed his gaze at him, as though noticing him for the first time. Raphael drew himself up, like a little boy who had been caught goofing off by his schoolmaster. Rahab was fascinated with Splinter. He was scarcely bigger than Gaele, yet had remarkable presence. Her thoughts cut off when she noticed Splinter's sharp eyes were on her again. She sat very still, her hands folded in her lap as he studied her and nodded thoughtfully.

"Hai..." he said softly. "Donatello is right." He squinted at Rahab, and pulled at his chin whiskers. He said something lengthy that Rahab didn't understand, but obviously Raphael did, by his shocked reaction.

"What?" Rahab felt a surge of apprehension. "Is something wrong?"

"No..." Raphael whispered, glancing at her.

"It is an ancient story, Rahab," Splinter said quietly. " A haiku. Raphael will tell you some time. There is a more urgent matter at hand, my daughter. A time of trouble is coming, when Raphael and his brothers must leave us for a time, to go to the aid of an old friend."

Rahab looked at Raphael, but he would not meet her gaze. "You're LEAVING me here?"

"Not exactly, it's uhm, only for a couple of days," Raphael said hesitantly.

"What's going to happen?" She looked at Splinter.

"Rahab, please, come here." Splinter beckoned her to him.

She did so, slowly, and knelt on one of the cushions by the bed. He reached out and took hold of her forearm. His hands were long and painfully thin, like a sparrow's, but his grip startled her with its strength. "My daughter," he said, "I am in need of your help. Leonardo will be away, also. Will you take his place until he returns?"

Rahab stared at him openmouthed, until she realized she was being rude. "I- " She looked at Raphael, who was biting his lower lip as though holding something in. She looked back at Splinter. "I don't know how to..." She paused to swallow the knot forming in her throat. "...to take care of..."

Splinter nodded. "I understand. Do not worry about those things. There are others who will take care of my needs. What I want from you is your attention, a few hours a day."

"Oh, I see." Rahab glanced again at Raphael, who looked very agitated about something. She looked at Splinter again. "I would be... honored."

Splinter smiled, and patted Rahab's hand. "Good! I am content again, and it is I who is honored, my daughter, to have you as a pupil." He sighed happily and settled back into his pillows. "I will be looking forward to this."

"Yeah," Rahab said faintly. "So will I."

Splinter closed his eyes wearily. Raphael rose silently and led Rahab out of the room.

When they were outside, Raphael let out his breath noisily. She followed along behind him, as they quickly climbed the path to the waterfall.

"Now what," Rahab asked with apprehension.

He turned and faced her, giving her a half smile. "Nothing," he said. "You did just fine."

"That's not the message I got," she countered. "You acted as though I had committed a cardinal sin."

"You did... just... FINE," he said through clenched teeth.

"Then what's eating YOU?" She rested her hands on her hips. "Besides dumping this news on me at the last minute?"

He backed up slowly until he sat against a boulder, and folded his arms. He gazed at her, unblinking, for a long time. "Okay. I'll tell you. It's not easy being around you sometimes. A guy starts thinking he knows his wife, and then she throws him a curve ball."

She laughed a little. "I could say the same thing about you! But I don't get it."

"You don't get it." He took a long, careful breath. "'Course you don't. You missed part of the conversation because Splinter sometimes seems to forget what language he's speaking."

"What did he say?"

"I can't translate it easily," he said too quickly to be convincing.

"You can't..." She walked up to him. "You don't like the idea of Splinter teaching me, is that it?"

"I don't like the idea of leaving you," he said, low. "Not that you aren't in good hands, you couldn't be safer than staying here with the Grand Master of the Way. He may be old, but he's still quite a piece of live ammunition."

Rahab glared at him. "I'm beginning to hate this, Raphael. All this- pretending and hiding and running around and cryptic messages, I wasn't born yesterday, you know! You think this is all going over my head, well, it's NOT!"

"Rahab, take it easy," Raphael said, reaching for her.

She held her hands out threateningly. "I'm NOT gonna take it easy, until you start TALKING, mister," she growled.

Raphael stepped back and circled her, his eyes never leaving hers. "Ah, light summer breeze... what hides in your sweet zephyr? A spirit wind's song?"

Rahab shifted back to squint at him. "What the heck is that?"

He stopped circling her. "The translation, it just came to me," he said. " The haiku... you know." His tone became impatient when she gave him a blank look.

"Oh, that." Rahab felt odd, and went over to a rock to sit down. She leaned into her elbows and closed her eyes. She felt his hands knead her upper shoulders, and she gradually relaxed. When she opened her eyes, he was kneeling in front of her, looking intently into her face. There were a thousand things she wanted to say to him, but none of them came to the surface.

"Everything's gonna be just fine, Rahab," he said, taking her face up in his hands.

"What...if you don't come back," she managed to ask.

"I will come back."

"But what if you DON'T?"

"I WILL come BACK!" He gave her shoulders a little shake. "Don't TALK like that!"

She covered her face to suppress a sob. "I'm scared," she said through her fingers.

She heard him let out his breath slowly, as though he were calming himself. "Yeah. So'm I."

They sat together on the rock, until long after dark.



Early the next morning, Rahab woke to see Raphael still asleep beside her. She stared at his profile a long time as though he were a stranger. He was, to a degree, a stranger to her morning routine, but there he was. She knew they wouldn't leave until later that day, he was resting up for some terrible sortie that lay ahead.

All four of the brothers were together at breakfast. Mike was listening intently to something on a portable CD headset, until Gaele clamored for his attention. He reluctantly removed the headphones, and let her get up into his lap. He stared into space for a few moments, until Rahab caught his eye.

"How are you doing, Mike?"

He smiled primly at her. "Just fine."

Leo was watching them. "You really should eat, Mike. Your daughter is getting all of your breakfast..."

Mike shrugged, and got up, hoisting Gaele over his shoulder, before setting her down in front of Rahab. "I don't have to tell you to look after her, do I? After all, you are her Mommy."

Rahab stared at him, but decided not to answer.

Mike snatched up his headset. "The killer AWOKE before daw-wn... And he put his boots onnn... he pulled a face from the ancient gallery, and... he WALKED on downn the HALL-way, bay-beh..." He strutted toward the outer door, and let out a little coyote yip.

Don looked up from reading the local paper. "You sound optimistic this morning, Mikey," he said tonelessly.

"Hey, that wasn't me talking, I was channelling the ghost of Jim Morrison."

"Hey, that was great, you sounded just LIKE him," Raphael said, winking at Rahab.

"I thought it was wierd, " Rahab said half to herself, as she fed Gaele grapes.

"I told you, it wasn't ME," Mike said, pretending to be sincere. His face clouded. "I have a bad feeling about all this."

"Mike, don't start in," Raphael groaned.

"Mike, remember what Master Splinter said-" Leo began.

"Mike, MIKE! And he's not MY master. Maybe yours, but I have a
LIFE," Mike snarled at Leo, who didn't respond. "And I also have a daughter that I'm not in a hurry to leave behind!" He glared at Rahab as he said this. "It would be REAL convenient for you if I get my head hacked off, wouldn't it? WOULDN'T it? Then you can have her all to yourself! You and Raph, ONE big, effing HAPPY family!"

As he went on, Rahab felt more and more nauseated by the horrible images that sprang up into her already overactive imagination, until she couldn't take anymore. "SHUT... UP!"

She ran into the bedroom and slumped onto the bed, sobbing hysterically. She could hear Raphael and Mike's voices in a shouting match, until Leo's, loudest of all, ended it suddenly. In the silence, Gaele's little footsteps pattered in the hall, as she approached her mother.

She felt little hands stroking her cheek. "Mama's kiyin'," Gaele's little voice whimpered in her ear. "You kye?"

"Mama's okay, sweetheart. Mama was just crying a little bit. All better now," Rahab said, wiping the tears out of her eyes. She hugged Gaele close.

Mike came in after a while, looking very subdued. "Just wanna say goodbye to her," he muttered, without looking at Rahab. He swept Gaele up, and carried her out to the living room, before Rahab could respond. Not that she was going to.

Raphael came in soon after, and sat beside her.

"Another bedside talk, huh?" Rahab said, and heaved a shuddering sigh.

"Sorta. We'll be leaving in a while, we gotta hole up somewhere out there before sundown."

"Why do you guys have to do this?" Rahab leaned her head against him.

"You know why, Rahab. We can't spend the rest of our lives hiding from these idiots. They almost got us by surprise back in New York, but they mucked the whole thing up so bad that they had to lay low for a while, but it's bound to happen again. Better to meet 'em halfway, than have them come charging up here. Which would be a stupid move on their part, since they'd be up against six hundred-odd students of the Way. But we don't want to get anybody else involved in this. Better to... to be honest, Rahab, it won't be easy. It will be like walking into a hornet's nest, but we've been through worse, with less experience."

"And with less to lose," Rahab added sadly.



The rest of the day was quiet, and by mid afternoon, the four of them were gone. She didn't know when they left, they just seemed to dissipate slowly, like mist. Several monks in burnt-orange wraps escorted her and Gaele to Splinter's quarters, where she would stay until Raphael and the others returned. She and Gaele stayed in Leonardo's apartment, just off the little hall that Splinter's room faced. Leo's lodgings were sparse but comfortable, and Rahab had little trouble feeling at home, once she set out her and Gaele's things.

Very early the next morning, she was summoned to see Splinter, and to bring Gaele with her. Splinter was sitting up in bed as usual, hardly creating a fold in the comforter that covered him from the chest down. He was wearing a tomato-red robe, this time. The color suited his dark grey-brown fur better than the blue, she thought.

"Greetings, Rahab. I trust you slept well," he said in a thin but cheerful voice.

"Yes, I did, ah... sir."

Splinter's whiskers twitched. "You may simply call me Splinter... or Sensei, if you wish, as you have agreed to become my pupil?"

Rahab smiled. "Yes, I have agreed... Sensei." She said the unfamiliar word carefully.

Gaele, who had been sitting very still, warily observing Splinter, now tried to slide off Rahab's lap. Rahab tried to hold her, but Gaele squirmed mightily, until she was loose.

"No, Gaele-" She got up to catch her as the toddler scrambled up on the bed. "Careful!"

Splinter held up a twiglike hand. "It is all right, Rahab. In spite of my appearing so, I do not break so easily." He gently patted Gaele on the cheek. "This little one and I have already met."

Gaele laughed and bounced, then crawled over to pat Splinter's cheek. "Yoor furzy!" She tweaked Splinter's long, wispy chin hair.

"Gaele," Rahab said warningly.

"I have a gift for a certain young lady," Splinter said, reaching for a narrow box on the bedside table. He held it out to her, and she grabbed it and yanked off the top.

"What do you say, honey," Rahab said in dismay.

"Woooooh," Gaele breathed, as she pulled out the contents. "Pitty!" Her eyes opened wider as she inspected it. Rahab got up to have a closer look. It was a doll, half the size of Gaele, with a round, white, shining face, its delicate eyes and red lips painted on with great skill. Its black hair was done up in an elaborate knot, and it wore long, colorful robes, unlike anything Rahab had ever seen before.

"Gaele, will you say thank you?" Rahab prompted her.

"Tankoyoo," Gaele said automatically, and immediately curled up at the end of the bed to inspect the doll more thoroughly.

"It's beautiful, Splinter. What kind of doll is that?"

"Geisha," Splinter said, and smiled.

"Ohho. So that's what Mike was trying to talk Raph into, seeing the Geisha girls he had over... that little RAKE," Rahab murmered. She noticed Splinter was listening intently. "I'm sorry, I-"

"No need for apology, my daughter. I understand. Geisha girls are entertainers, they sing and play instruments, and serve food to their clients in a special way. It is an ancient art they practice, it takes long hours of study to perfect their skills."

"They do other things, don't they?" Rahab asked faintly.

"Whatever is done, a Geisha does with the honor of perfection," Splinter said, patting Rahab's hand. "I am confident that Raphael would conduct himself in an appropriate manner."

"He had better," Rahab muttered, then smiled politely at Splinter.

"Do you not trust your husband?"

Rahab bowed her head. "I- I do, it's just that... I mean no offense... I don't trust Mike," she whispered, so Gaele wouldn't hear.

Splinter stroked the side of his upper lip as he made a low, thoughtful noise. "Perhaps it would be better for the little one if we discussed this at another time," he said at length.

Rahab nodded.

"Now then, about yourself. I have heard a great deal about you, and much of it I sense as well... your spirit is very powerful, yet opposing forces are at work in you, which seems to cause internal imbalance."

"Oh. Yes! You're right. I don't know how you did it, I won't presume to ask, but you knew about the baby, didn't you? Leo told me," Rahab said excitedly.

Splinter raised himself a little higher on his pillows. "I tell Leonardo many things, so I do not forget. My memory is not what it used to be... it is important that you remember all that is said here, and keep it in your heart, for I will not recall tomorrow all that has been said today."

"Okay... "Rahab said, feeling a little confused. "I'll do that."

"Good. Now! Do you understand what it is to think of... nothing?"

Rahab laughed a little. "To think of nothing, I wish! My head runs like a horse race!"

"Then, my daughter, this is where your first lesson begins."

Next section... Rahab 12

Back to... Rahab's Page