Ghosts & Other Strange Visions
Chapter 20
XX
"What are you saying, Judge… that the sheriff somehow brought those two kids back from the grave? They're dead! Judge, you've been a great help to us so far. Don't ruin your credibility now!"
"No, Colonel! They're not dead."
"Judge… whatever you may believe notwithstanding, those kids are dead! We… I mean… somebody… took care of that. And that somebody… well, let's just say that that somebody has unimpeachable credibility. We've verified the information, so unless that sheriff of yours can bring dead people back to life, you're just wasting my time right now."
"Suit yourself, Colonel. But it seems to me they were supposed to be 'dead' once before and your information turned out to be wrong… or did somebody bring them back to life then, too?"
There was a long silence before the colonel spoke again.
"The details couldn't be verified with sufficient certainty that time. There was mass confusion because of the circumstances… the graduation. This time one of our own people… uh… verified the information for us. They're dead."
There was a pause, then the colonel added, "Not that we had anything to do with that unfortunate incident, of course… or the unfortunate incident at the center either."
"Uh huh. Well, tell that to Congress, Colonel, when you or that general of yours get called in to explain… whatever you may have to explain."
Again there was a long silence.
"Judge, what makes you so sure they're not dead? Have you seen them?"
"No, of course not. The sheriff has them hidden away somewhere."
"Then how do you know they're alive… if you haven't seen them…? Has anyone else seen them… anyone who would back you up?"
"Just the sheriff… and maybe his deputy… and his wife."
"In other words… no one who would back you up. It would just be your word against theirs."
This time, it was Judge Lewis who was silent.
"I ask you again… what makes you think they're alive, Judge?"
Judge Lewis groaned. "It's a feeling… no, no… more than a feeling! I know Jim Valenti. It's hard to explain."
"Hard to explain… and you want me to take your… hard to explain 'feeling' over the word of one of our best men. Is that what you're saying? Are you saying that one of our best men lied?"
"No… no, of course not, Colonel."
"Then what are you saying, Judge?"
"I don't know… Hell! Maybe he made a mistake. Maybe they tricked him…"
"We don't make mistakes like that, Judge… and we aren't so easily tricked as you might be. Look, Judge, when you have something real to go on, give me a call. Until then, don't waste our time. The only reason I'm letting you off easy this time is because of the value of your assistance to us in the past. But if your conscience is bothering you or those kids' ghosts are haunting you in your sleep, don't expect us to come running! Call an exorcist… or a priest if you know one… or try Ghostbusters.com. You do know how to use a computer don't you? I'm sure you'll find someone there who believes you and will be more than happy to waste their time hunting your ghosts down… for a price. Good night, Judge."
The line went dead, and Judge Lewis exhaled a deep breath of air along with several curses he had been holding in. "Fool! You don't know Jim Valenti. You don't know these kids. They'll have your ass on a spit, and don't say I didn't try to warn you. Damn moron!"
**********
Miles from either Judge Lewis' office or the army base, an old Indian with long white hair sat on a chair in front of his simple house on the Mesaliko Indian Reservation, his back against the house and his chair leaning back on its two back legs, whittling on a long hollow reed of some kind. He looked up as someone approached. Then he looked back down at his whittling.
"Brother," the newcomer said, addressing the old Indian in the chair. "Are you hiding something from the ancestors again? Your curtains are drawn."
"It is cooler with the curtains drawn," River Dog answered without looking up. "These are hot days, Gray Hawk."
"Mmm." The other Indian mumbled. "Yes, the days can be very hot."
River Dog ran his knife over the reed in his hand again and made another notch in something that appeared to be shaping up to be a flute of sorts.
"I see your house suffers from the heat, too, these days, Gray Hawk," he said nonchalantly.
"It is as you say, brother. It is cooler in the house with the curtains drawn."
River Dog nodded. "So nasedo would have nothing to do with it?"
"I would not wish to risk the wrath of the ancestors, River Dog… A'in Ji Lii is not nasedo. Would you risk the ancestors' wrath?"
"No, I would not," River Dog replied calmly. "The ancestors know that I heed their warnings."
River Dog might have had his fingers crossed when he said this… if he had been accustomed to that gesture. But he satisfied his conscience by telling himself that the "guests" in his house were not nasedo -not visitors- at least not of the "stranger" kind… not anymore. He knew them now. Gray Hawk, in turn, excused his own ignoring of the ancestors' warning by telling himself that his houseguests were friends of his protégée, A'in ji Lii, and therefore not "visitors" of the "stranger" type either. However, neither River Dog nor Gray Hawk felt sufficiently comfortable with their conviction to mention their "guests" to the other.
River Dog had long ago accepted the presence of A'in ji Lii in Gray Hawk's house, as had many, if not most, of the other Mesaliko on the reservation… after a time. But no one knew how the ancestors would feel about her being there, so Gray Hawk hedged his bets by occasionally blowing dried peyote and other herbs into the air in his house in order to keep any ancestors who might just "happen to look in" feeling good… and maybe blur their sight a bit… just enough so that they would not notice that his ward had light skin… or that she had green eyes… or that she had yellow hair. It was amazing what a little bit of dried cactus button, ground into a fine powder, could do. With enough peyote in the air, Gray Hawk could probably have housed all the soldiers in the army without the ancestors seeing them… if that were something that he was inclined to do… but he was not. Gray Hawk, like his brother, River Dog, knew that the ancestors' warnings were always given for a reason. Gray Hawk and River Dog might hedge on their definition of a "visitor" if it seemed convenient and suited their purposes to do so, but neither brother would intentionally put himself or his tribe at risk.
**********
As River Dog and Gray Hawk were speaking in front of River Dog's house, a mere three houses away, inside Gray Hawk's house, Max was pacing the floor restlessly. He would sit down… then he would stand up again and look out beneath the curtains. Then he would resume his pacing.
"I can't stay here like this, Michael. I need to get out. There are things I need to do."
Michael looked up at Max. "Well, we aren't locked in, Max. But do you really want to cause Gray Hawk problems by being seen coming and going from his house… you know… given the taboo and all? He was pretty nice to let us stay here."
"We promised Angie Lee's grandfather we wouldn't leave the house," Isabel said, agreeing with Michael.
"I didn't promise not to leave," Max replied. "I merely promised to keep out of sight so that others wouldn't see us here. Anyway, we also promised him that we wouldn't stay very long."
"That's true," Isabel said. "But… where will we go, Max?"
Max shook his head. "If we go back home… and are seen… the army will be after us by nightfall, and we will have put our families in mortal danger."
"We can't do that," Isabel agreed.
"No, we can't," Max said. "But we have to go somewhere. I need to find Liz, and I can't do it if I'm stuck inside this house."
"I want Mom to know I'm okay," Maria said. "I can't imagine what she must've gone through. She must think that I'm… dead."
Max looked at Maria, and his look softened a bit. "We're all dead, Maria. I'm sure of it. The army made sure of that. We were never supposed to return. You… you actually were dead when they brought you to the lab, Maria… at least by human standards. Both of you were… and Michael nearly was…"
Max took a deep breath and sat down then looked at Michael, Maria, and Isabel. "They didn't know I could still heal you. They were probably going to dissect us all in the lab. If they had known I would recover and heal the three of you, they would have put more guards on the door."
"I wondered why there was only one guard when we tried to escape the first time," Isabel said. "…and he looked like he was seeing a ghost when we walked out."
"Four ghosts," Max corrected. "That guy just stood there gawking; he was a pushover. If there hadn't been a bunch of fresh guards coming on duty right at that moment, we might have escaped the first time and not had to go through… any of… what we did."
Max looked away. It was hard for him to reflect on what they had been through, and it was especially hard for him to think about Maria and Isabel going through it. But he knew they had. He had been able to hear their screams. Max and Michael had been kept drugged and thoroughly restrained to prevent them from using their powers when any of the "lab attendants" were in the set of rooms that the four occupied. If either one could have moved, he would have vaporized their torturers on the spot.
There were four rooms in the underground "suite." One of them was set up as a lab, and it was kept locked up except when in use. The other three rooms were basically adjoining storage rooms, with one bathroom between them. There were no beds. There were no covers. There was only the hard floor to sit or sleep on, and it was usually cold, being far under ground as it was. Every day was a struggle just to survive there. And Max knew that they had not yet even begun to experience the worst of what had been planned for them. No! Getting caught again was not an option. But if they left Gray Hawk's house too soon, without knowing where they would go, getting caught was all too real a possibility, and this frustrated Max. The need to be searching for Liz was overpowering his senses… but he didn't want to risk Maria or Isabel's lives… or Michael's either for that matter… because of a rash decision on his part to satisfy his own needs.
"Rahn…" Max said hesitantly, standing back up and starting to pace again… "Who would notice if a bat flew out of here at night… or maybe a small bird in the daytime… something that's common here? You could go anywhere and search for Liz… and bring information back…"
"Yes, I can do that," Rahn said, happy to be able to help. "What would you like me to do, Zan?"
"Find out about our parents… find out if they're all alright… and find Liz… or find out where she is. Then… return here and tell us. Can you do that?"
"Of course. It is a simple request. Should I go now?"
Max nodded. "Now… or as soon as you're ready."
"I'm always ready," Rahn said, beginning to change his form even as he spoke. Max cracked the front door just a bit and peeked outside to see if all was clear, then he turned to look for Rahn. As he did, something small and fast ran past him and out the door.
"Beep Beep!"
Max watched, with his mouth open, as the brownish bird with a long tail ran down the dirt road a short distance then launched itself, somewhat clumsily, into the air. Then he turned and looked at Isabel and Maria, who was hiding her face in her hands and trying very hard to stifle a laugh. Isabel had her hand over Maria's head, pointing.
"It was Maria."
Max nodded and mumbled, "Children."
**********
Jeff Parker opened the window at the back of the CrashDown Café's kitchen and wiped his brow with the back of his hand as he –and the spatula in his hand- cooled down.
"It's hot in here."
It's hot outside," Nancy said, just walking in to check on him. "You should let one of the girls do the cooking for a while, Jeff. Take a break. Go upstairs and relax in the air conditioning for a few minutes… or an hour."
"Can't do that, Nancy. I need them on the floor out there. Besides, who can cook hamburgers better than me, huh?"
"You really need to hire another cook," Nancy said. "You haven't let anybody else cook since… since the Guerin boy…"
A flutter of wings attracted Nancy's attention as she spoke, and she turned around to look. A brownish bird with a long tail had perched itself in the open window.
"You're looking in the wrong place if you're looking for a place to get cool," Jeff joked.
The bird just stood there.
"Oh, well, suit yourself." Jeff handed Nancy a piece of bread, and she tossed a piece to the bird, which dutifully ate it off of the windowsill.
"Well, Michael Guerin was alright as a cook," Jeff, said. "He could get it right… not always the first time, mind you… but I never saw anybody do a recook faster than he could. I wish I still had him here now. Maybe that sounds strange."
Nancy shook her head. "It's not strange… We both miss them, Jeff… all of them. It's the memories…"
Jeff nodded, and his eyes teared up a bit.
"I guess that's it. They were Liz's friends. I still don't want to believe that Liz isn't… coming back. It's just not right, Nancy. After all she went through. She was finally getting better. She was getting well… against all the odds… until Judge Lewis had her locked up in that damned… insane asylum."
As Jeff mentioned the name, "Judge Lewis," he brought the spatula down hard, like an ax, on the counter, startling the bird in the window and causing it to jump.
"Sorry if I scared you, little guy," Jeff said. "I wasn't going to chop you up… That was for someone else I was thinking about… in the snake family. But you should know all about that. Your kind kills rattlesnakes, don't they? Maybe I could borrow you for a day. If I showed you a big, fat, ass-ugly rattlesnake, would you smack it against a rock for me?"
Nancy ignored Jeff's self-humoring "chat" with the bird and continued her conversation. "Do you think they'll ever catch the person who killed Liz and Alex in that place, Jeff?"
Jeff stopped and looked at Nancy sadly. He didn't have to answer. Nancy wasn't really expecting him to.
"I still don't understand any of this, Jeff," Nancy said. "Roswell used to be a peaceful place. After the shooting at graduation, this town just went to Hell. I don't understand it. What does Judge Lewis want out of this? He had to know Liz wasn't dealing drugs. Neither was that boy, Alex Whitman. Even I could see the judge was lying through his teeth. But why? Why did he hate Liz? Liz never hurt anybody."
Jeff leaned on the counter with both hands and hung his head for a moment, then without warning, he grabbed the butcher knife beside him and threw it at the wall in frustration. The knife stuck in the wall, cleanly severing the cord that had held the window up… and the window fell with a thud… on top of the bird.
Nancy gasped.
The roadrunner's wing could be seen crushed beneath the window, as the bird itself dangled just off the ledge outside. Jeff stepped toward the window to raise it, but before he could, the bird's right wing, which was trapped under the window, began to change. The feathers were disappearing, turning into something that looked like… skin. Slowly, the whole trapped wing began to look more like an arm and a hand. They were too small for a human… but downright large –not to mention odd- for a roadrunner. The arm, or the hand on the end of it, pushed the window back up a bit, enough for the bird to get free and its wing to quickly return to normal. But as the bird leapt and spread its wings, hoping that it would still be able to fly, something jerked it brusquely back into the room… then the window was slammed shut.
tbc
Coming Up: Time to talk.