Chapter 20

Teaspoon and the others crept closer to see into the clearing. Frederick peered out. He spoke quietly.

"She has already reclaimed the other two. She never lost the first. She will pull it from them at the midnight hour."

"We have to take out the stone. The old man said to bust her heart." Said Buck.

"Cody has it." Said Kid.

The wind started kicking up more. The dust swirling as the specter reached toward the sky. The riders held onto their hats as the wind blew faster. It started pulling them in. Frederick jumped up and ran closer to her. She wailed when she saw him. He started chanting his spell. He stilled the air around them.

"Now! Go for Cody!" Yelled Teaspoon.

Kid and Buck started running to Cody. Lou went to Ike. Teaspoon to Jimmy. Lou grabbed Ike and fell back. He was stiff. Teaspoon looked over at Jimmy. He wasn't moving just staring ahead. Kid and Buck were within a few feet of Cody. The specter wailed loudly. Frederick turned toward her. He tried to push against her control of nature. She wailed out and held her arms up again. A whirlwind started spinning circling the group. Kid and Buck grabbed Cody. They felt a shock come to their hands as they were flung back. Cody looked up, his eyes now glowing blue like the stone. They laid on the ground stunned. The wind swirled faster trying to draw them to the outside. Lou held on to Ike while Teaspoon held onto Jimmy.

"Buck! Kid! Grab a hold!" He tried to scream over the noise of the wind.

Kid grabbed onto a rock. He dug his fingers into the ground around it. He screamed as Buck slid along the ground and disappeared up into the wall of debris. Frederick could feel her power growing. Lou screamed out as Ike started shaking. Jimmy started doing the same.

"You have to kill one of them to stop the circle! I won't be able to hold her much longer!"

Cody held the stone out in front of him. The entire inside of the wind funnel glowed a bright blue. Her wail started to sound more like a happy song. Teaspoon looked at Lou. They couldn't kill any of them. Kid yelled out as he started losing his grip. Frederick knew what he had to do. He turned his attention from the specter who was starting to turn human.

"Kid!" Yelled Lou as he was pulled from the rock.

He clawed at the ground until he was sucked up in the wall of wind. Lou held Ike tighter. Teaspoon was wrapped around Jimmy. He looked at his boy's face. The light from his eyes was starting to fade. He saw Frederick turn to face Cody.

"No!" He screamed.

Frederick said his spell and pointed out to Cody. A flash of electricity flew toward him and struck him in the chest. Cody was thrown back into the whirlwind. The stone flew from his hand and rolled onto the ground. The lady screamed out and reached her hand out. The stone started sliding to her. Teaspoon pulled his gun and aimed. He pulled the trigger. The shot hit the stone sending it into pieces. The specter screamed a deafening shriek. She started spinning in circles. A sudden downward gush of wind and she was gone. The whirlwind came to an abrupt stop. Debris fell all around them. Frederick fell to his knees. Jimmy and Ike crumpled in a heap. Teaspoon looked around still clutching Jimmy. He raised up and grabbed Jimmy's shoulders. The boy didn't respond. He felt for his heartbeat. Finding one, he turned to Lou who nodded.

"Where's the others?" She yelled.

"They got to be somewhere in all this mess."

Frederick sat on his knees trying to catch his breath feeling weak. He looked at the others then up at the sky. He smiled as the sun began to rise. He could finally rest.

Teaspoon and Lou stood. They surveyed the damage around them. There wasn't much left. They started looking for the others. Lou screamed as Kid came limping over from all the mess.

"Oh my God! Kid!"

"Thank God, Lou. Are they?"

"No, they're alive. You see Cody or Buck?"

"No. I'm sorry. I need to sit." Kid said as he almost fell.

Teaspoon ran over and helped him down.

"What hurts?"

"Everything. But I'm ok." Smiled Kid.

"Sit tight. We got to find the others."

Frederick walked over to where they were gathered. He heard them talking. He said a spell silently to show them where the others were. He saw the clouds gather and only let two rays of sunlight shine through.

"There." He said.

"Thank you." Said Teaspoon patting his shoulder before they ran over.

Teaspoon dug and pulled Buck from under a small tree. He pulled him down to lay him flat. He was breathing. He had some cuts and bruises but he seemed ok. They ran to where only Cody could be. They moved limbs and found him underneath. Teaspoon pulled him out as Kid limped over. The front of his shirt was burned as was the skin under it. He wasn't breathing. Teaspoon started shaking him. Lou held her face and cried. Kid looked on in shock.

Frederick watched the group mourn. He felt something good stir inside him. He looked up and felt the sun on his face one last time. He spoke the words ever so softly before feeling himself being swept away. He smiled at the small family as he disappeared.

Cody woke and sucked in a huge amount of air. He coughed and blinked. He looked up and saw Teaspoon.

"What's going on?" He squeaked.

Teaspoon smiled and pulled the boy into a hug. Kid looked over to find Frederick gone. All that was left was a pile of dust.

"Frederick is gone." He whispered.

Teaspoon and Lou looked over.

"What in the world?"

Buck woke gasping and holding his arm. They went over to him.

"We win?" He asked.

"We did. It's gone for good." Said Lou smiling.

"Good." He said relaxing

Teaspoon walked over to Ike who was starting to move. He knelt down and placed his hand on his chest. Ike opened his eyes and smiled at him.

"You ok, Ike? Looks like you got worked over pretty good."

'My chest and back hurts. Bad.' Ike slowly signed.

Lou came over and fell beside Teaspoon. She helped him pull up Ike's shirt to reveal bruises all over. Teaspoon looked at Lou shaking his head.

"Just lay still, Ike. We will get some help, ok."

Ike nodded as Buck stumbled over still holding his arm. He sat down next to Ike and took his hand. Ike smiled.

Teaspoon and Lou went to Jimmy. He was still out of it so Teaspoon gave him a slight shake. Jimmy started wheezing. He rolled his head from side to side. He started coughing. Teaspoon and Lou got his arms to help him up. He coughed and spit blood. He looked at Lou. He tried to smile.

"Jimmy, it's over. We are going to get some help."

"Where's Cody?" Asked Jimmy.

"He's over there. It's him. It's ok now. Just relax." Answered Teaspoon.

"What happened to you and Ike? Your face looks bad." Said Lou.

"Nothing to worry about now." Jimmy said as he sneezed.

Teaspoon watched as blood gushed out his nose. Jimmy spat again. Teaspoon pulled a rag out his back pocket and held it to his nose. He looked out at everyone.

"It's time to put this behind us."

"Let's go home." Said Lou.