I went back and re-read this story and decided I could do so much better. I originally was going to delete the original chapters and post these chapters in their place, but a couple people brought up that they would rather see both the original chapters and the revised ones together and when I thought about it, I agreed. So please enjoy the revised version of Family Guardian.
Liz was asleep on her cot in the shed on the abandoned property. Coyote was awake, sitting on a stool in the corner watching her sleep. The good news was that she wasn't having a nightmare and screaming in her sleep like she sometimes did. The bad news was he was beginning to think he was acting a bit like an obsessive teenage boy watching her like this. They were staying in the mortal world not only because of Liz's training, but because Liz wasn't exactly well-liked on Avalon at the moment. Coyote thought it would be best to stay in the mortal world to avoid Oberon after Liz conned him into giving Puck's powers back. Liz was completely sincere with her wish, but Oberon thought that it was part of a bigger scheme. To what, Coyote did not know.
Coyote had a bad feeling like something was going to happen soon, but it wasn't directed at Liz. It was directed at Peter Maza. The Children of Oberon were not allowed to meddle in mortal affairs, but Coyote made an exception for Peter because of their connection. There was danger in Manhattan. He had to go see what it was and see if he could do anything to stop it. He stood up.
"Coyote?"
Coyote saw Liz had rolled over and was awake.
She propped herself up on her arms and looked at him with blurry brown eyes.
"I'll be back," said Coyote. "Can you stay by yourself for a little while?"
"Yeah," replied Liz. "Where are you going?"
"I'm just going to check on Peter," Coyote replied. "I'll be back in time for supper. We can get enchiladas."
"Mm-kay. Sounds good." Liz lay back down and was soon asleep again, snoring cutely.
Coyote walked outside. He took a few steps into the dawn's light before disappearing into the wind.
In Manhattan, Peter Maza pulled into a gas station and up to a pump. He got out of the car and began pumping gas. Out of the corner of his eye, the retired police officer noticed a work van parked in front of the gas station in the end spot. The hood was popped and someone was working on the engine. He couldn't see the person from where he was standing.
Peter finished pumping gas and pulled the car up to the front of the gas station to let the next person go. The only other available spot was next to the work van. Peter went inside and paid. When he came out, the van was still there. He went to get in his car.
"Hey, buddy, can you help me out?" asked the van's driver. He was younger than Peter with a round face and wearing a baseball cap. The sleeves of his sports sweatshirt were pushed up and there was grease on his hands.
Peter, not about to leave someone in trouble, asked, "What seems to be the problem?"
"Not so much mechanical, but I think there's a cat in the engine," the man replied.
"A cat?" asked Peter, walking over to take a look.
"Yeah, I was on my way to work and I kept hearing a cat meowing."
"Hmm, might need to call animal control," said Peter.
"I know, but I don't want to leave it in there," said the man. "It could be hurt."
"Have you seen it?"
"No, but the light isn't so good. If it's a black cat, I can't see it."
"Do you have a flashlight?" asked Peter.
"Uh, yeah. Several in the van."
"Let's see what you have," said Peter.
They walked over to the side of the van. The man opened the sliding door and crawled in. He came back out with several different sized flashlights, from a small pen light to a heavy duty flashlight.
Peter took one of the flashlights. "Let's look under the van. It may have crawled down from the engine and is hiding in the undercarriage somewhere."
Both men searched under the van for the cat, aiming their lights in every nook and cranny.
"I'm not seeing it," said Peter. "And I haven't heard it. Maybe it took off."
The man sighed sullenly. "Maybe. I hope it's gone. I don't want to be driving and it gets caught in something."
"Cats are crafty," said Peter, getting up from the pavement. "When I worked on the force, there was a cat that got into the ceiling of a supermarket. The workers thought there was a person crawling around up there. So we get the call and when we get there, the cat fell through a ceiling tile and then ran rampant through the supermarket before somehow getting back in the ceiling."
"Sounds like an interesting day," the man said with a chuckle.
"It certainly made fools out of us," said Peter.
They went back over to the side of the van and put the flashlights back inside. Peter noticed a feather and beaded keychain on the man's belt loop. It looked a little bit like a Kachina doll, but he wasn't sure.
"That's an interesting keychain," Peter commented.
The man looked down. "Oh, thanks. I got it in Arizona. Ever been there?"
"I grew up there," replied Peter.
"Have you ever seen the Dance of the Coyote?" the man asked.
"I was Coyote when I was younger," Peter told him.
"What an honor having a connection to such a powerful being, Peter."
Peter looked at him. He hadn't introduced himself to the man. So how did he know his name?
The man smiled creepily before swinging the heavy duty flashlight at Peter's head.
Coyote appeared behind a gas station in New York. He had a feeling whatever was about to happen already did. He walked around the building and looked at parking lot. There was a work van parked on the end next to Peter's car.
"There's your car, but where are you, Peter?" Coyote asked, looking in the gas station window.
"You looking for someone?"
Coyote turned around to see a round faced man in a sweatshirt. He had grease smeared on his hands like he had just wiped them off.
"Yes," replied Coyote. "Have you seen an older gentleman, tan skin, gray hair?"
"Looks like an older version of you?" asked the man. "I did. He was helping me with my van."
"Did you see where he went?" asked Coyote.
"We were just cleaning up. Hey, Peter! You have somebody looking for you." He walked around the side of the van.
Coyote followed him. Big mistake. The man pushed him and Coyote fell into the open van.
"Hey!" yelled Coyote.
Something wrapped around his neck and burned him. His strength was sapped from him and he couldn't move. The door slammed shut. Coyote glanced around and saw someone else in the back of the van with him.
"Peter?"
There was also drawings all over the walls and roof of the van. Coyote recognized some of the symbols as charms humans had come up with in the past to trap fey. Coyote thought they would be easy enough to break if he wasn't being drained by the collar around his neck.
The man got into the driver's seat. "This is just too easy."
Everything went dark as Coyote could no longer keep his eyes open.
I decided to go into more detail with the first chapter in this chapter as to what happened to Peter and Coyote and the introduction of the antagonist. What do you think of the change?
