Raven Saga 01 - Raven

What on earth is the matter? Did you have another bad dream?”
    I told him that I needed to talk to him urgently but I also needed to speak to Rose, Wyatt and Meredith... and Jo. “We must call them now and tell them to come over straight away. Something very important has happened.”
    He turned and looked at his bedside clock. 4.57am.
    “Perhaps it might be pertinent to just wait a couple of hours, Lilly. We don't want to worry the rest of the family... unless absolutely necessary. Is it, Lilly? Is it absolutely necessary?”
    I thought for a moment and agreed that perhaps it could wait a few more hours. After all, it had waited fourteen years, what was another two hours?
    I debated whether I should tell Gabriel about Sammy first but decided against it. I knew how he felt about the man and there was a possibility that he just might go a little mad at the mere mention of his name. At least with the others there, particularly Jo, they would help calm him down – that was my plan, anyway.
    Gabriel wanted to know what was so urgent but I said I couldn't tell him until the others arrived. He wasn't delighted, of course, but he was understanding. Gabriel was always understanding. It was one of the many things that I loved about him.
    We decided to telephone the others at 8am – it was a Sunday morning and Gabriel had said calling any earlier might have panicked them.
    Fortunately he hadn't noticed my unusual attire by then so I decided to go to my room and lie down for a while. It gave me the chance to remove Sammy's over large boots and hide them until the truth was revealed later.
    Adrenaline pulsed through my body as I lay there, darkness disappearing for another day to be replaced by a gentle light as the sun slowly began its ascent. I thought about Sammy. He had spent fourteen years completely alone. Even though I had felt lonesome during my childhood years, I could have no idea what it must have been like to have had absolutely no interaction with other people during that time.
    I wondered how he had managed to hang on to his sanity. Hidden from the world like some kind of freak, when that couldn't be any further from the truth.
    This man was a gentle soul who had suffered more than any of us had at the hands of a truly evil witch. It saddened me more than words could describe that he was not part of this family. The family that would have been his had Neleh lived. He would have been my brother-in-law. In my eyes, he was and would always be Neleh's husband.
    The others arrived as soon as they could after the phone call. Wyatt had also brought Jo, as I'd requested. The last to arrive was Rose at five to nine.
    They all appeared to be consumed with worry but it wasn't too difficult to get them to calm down. They could see for themselves that I was safe and happy.
    I had wondered about Meredith. I knew at times she had been able to read my thoughts but this time, she seemed totally oblivious as to what was going on in my head. I asked her about it and she told me that it's not something she can do all the time.
    “It only happens occasionally and only when you are very close to me but I'm not getting anything at the moment,” she sighed, clearly wishing she was.
    After I'd made them all some hot tea, and requested that Gabriel bring the box of photos they had shown me before, I asked them all to sit in the living room together.
    Gabriel handed me the box and I emptied it until I found the photograph I was looking for. The one of Sammy and Neleh happily together.
    “I don't want any of you to worry, especially you Gabriel,” I said, “and I don't want you to say anything until I've told you everything.”
    Gabriel sighed and I continued, “Please, Grand-father. This is more important that anything. Not a word, okay?”
    He nodded and smiled as best he could, unsure about what I was about to reveal.
    “A few nights ago I had a dream and when I woke up, I discovered that it had caused me to sleepwalk.”
    The others all looked at each other with worry.
    “It's okay. That night I woke up inside the house and nothing happened to me,” I smiled before going on, “but last night something very different happened. I had the most vivid dream I have ever had and I sleepwalked... right into the forest.”
    “Goodness, Lilly... you could have...” Rose began but I interrupted her.
    “Please Rose, let me finish. I was led there by the ghosts of Serena and Neleh. They took me deep into the forest. I walked for a