Wild Keepers

by Dee Bridgnorth

  He gazed at her. Once again, he had been struck by her beauty, after he had gotten over the shock of seeing her here. But he was trying not to alarm her. She thought he was crazy and was entertaining the possibility that he was a stalker as well. He needed to act as rational and level-headed as possible.

  “The book,” he began slowly. “The book is a sacred text of the demons. Full of stories of how the world began, and things they have done. But it also alludes to a place where their power is centralised.” He took a deep breath. “A place where something huge is going to happen when the stars align at a certain point in time.”

  She nodded slightly, indicating that she had heard him, but didn’t say anything. He could see the effort it was costing her to sit and listen to this.

  “That place is here, Keeley,” he said. “It’s in the desert, near Farrow Valley. The book doesn’t give exact coordinates, though. I’m here to search for it and find out what they are doing out there.” He took a deep breath. “And try to stop it before it is too late.”

  Her eyes widened. “Too late for what?”

  He ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know yet,” he replied. “I just know that the book says that they are expecting something to happen, and when it does, their power will be beyond imagination. They will finally rule not only Covenester, but the world.”

  She looked down at the floor. “And how does my father fit into this picture?”

  He frowned slightly. “I’m not sure,” he said. “All I know is that your father was carrying that book when he got back to Coyote River. Why did he have it? Where did he get it from?” His frown deepened. “I think there is a possibility that what happened to him is connected to it, just like you thought. Either he stole it, trying to figure it out, and they paralysed him, so he couldn’t talk. Maybe they tried to kill him, and it didn’t work. Instead he ended up like the vegetable he is.”

  Keeley winced.

  “Sorry,” he said hastily. “I don’t mean to cause offence. But your father has been silenced, well and truly. He no longer speaks. He can barely function.”

  Keeley had grown pale. “He does speak,” she whispered. “But not in the way that we do. He can’t have a conversation. He mutters three words repeatedly. The same three words since the night he was found wandering the road.”

  Thad stilled. He hadn’t known this.

  “What are the words?” he asked gently.

  Keeley sighed. “They are coming,” she said slowly. “Over and over. I once tried to ask him what he meant. Who was coming? What does he mean? But he never answers. Just keeps muttering the same three words.”

  “They are coming,” Thad repeated, frowning. He felt a chill go through him. They were ominous words, given the circumstances. The fact that her father had been out here and had the book.

  “Do you know what he is talking about?” asked Keeley, staring at him with such yearning he felt his heart begin to thud in his chest once again.

  “I can guess,” he said slowly. “He knew about what has been predicted to happen at the place. The words could be a desperate warning of what will come.”

  Keely paled further. “You mean he knew about these demons, and that they are planning something? He is trying to warn us?” She shook her head. “No, it’s not possible! It’s all a fantasy. I don’t believe in demons and the supernatural…”

  Thad stared at her. “Keeley, whether you believe it or not, it is real.” He took a deep breath. “You don’t have to do anything with this information. In fact, I probably prefer that you didn’t. You can just go home and accept that your father is the way he is and leave it at that. It is safer for you that way.”

  Her breath caught slightly in her throat. “I just don’t know. I don’t know what to believe anymore.”

  He stood up, approaching her. He bent down and took her hand.

  “Go back to your room and have a good sleep, and then head home in the morning,” he said gently. “You don’t have to do anything. I must stay here and see this through, and if I find out anything more about what happened to your father I will try to let you know.”

  She stared at him, then gazed down at his hand in her own. Her eyes widened slightly. He could tell that she was feeling the spark of electricity at their touch just as strongly as he was. He dropped her hand abruptly, not wanting to spook her.

  She slowly looked him in the face. “You’ve shaved,” she said slowly. “And cut your hair. I barely recognised you when you opened the door.”

  He reddened slightly, feeling self-conscious. “It was time,” he said. “I had to leave my life at Coyote River behind me to do this.” He paused, struggling to find words. “I let myself go when I was there, and…I don’t know, I felt that I needed to start afresh.”

  She smiled slightly. “You aren’t intending to go back to Coyote River?”

  He took a deep breath. “No,” he said. “Whatever happens here there will be no going back.”

  She shivered slightly, staring at him. “You don’t sound crazy,” she whispered. “Apart from the talk of demons, of course.”

  He grinned. “What does a crazy person sound like? Have you known many?”

  She shook her head. “Not one,” she said. “Well, there’s old Bob who hangs around the general store. He’s a bit strange. But he’s harmless. Just one of the town’s characters.”

  Thad smiled. “There’s always a few of them around,” he said. “I’ve seen a few around here, too.”

  Keeley smiled, too. “Have you been to the local bar? They all looked at me as if I had just landed here from out of space. Not the friendliest bunch in the world.”

  He nodded. “I went there last night for supper,” he said. “They treated me the same way. The food’s not exactly great, either.”

  Keeley nodded. “It’s a strange place,” she whispered. “The owner of the motel is one of the prickliest men I’ve ever encountered.” She paused. “He told me that his life is like a line from ‘Hotel California’. That he can check out but never leave.”

  Thad frowned. Jim Scott was a very odd man. He would reserve judgement until he investigated him further, but he wouldn’t be surprised if he was somehow connected to the mysterious Vilgath facility in the desert. Or at least knew a bit about what it was, and what was going on out there.

  It was called The Glory in the book. A mysterious building hidden in the desert surrounding Farrow Valley. But how had they hidden it? And how did it exist without people stumbling across it, or knowing something about it?

  The desert was a wide open space. Miles and miles of sand, with little vegetation. How was it possible that a building was there that no one knew about?

  “Thad,” said Keely, interrupting his reverie. “I stopped at a gas station on the way here. The man behind the counter told me to not stop at Farrow Valley. He warned me off it, telling me to keep driving.”

  Thad blinked. “Did he say anything else about it?”

  “Not really.” She took a deep breath. “He was odd. Like everyone else around here. He just said that it wasn’t good.”

  Thad pondered this. So, people did know that something was amiss around here. The locals always knew. But in Farrow Valley they weren’t talking. Or at least he hadn’t found anyone yet who would talk.

  He glanced at Keeley. She looked overwhelmed, as if she didn’t know what to think or believe anymore. And she also looked very tired. It had been a long drive from Coyote River.

  “You should rest,” he said, standing up.

  “Yes,” she said, standing up as well. “I’m so tired I can barely think.” She hesitated at the door, turning around to stare at him. “Do you want to get breakfast tomorrow? Apparently, they do it at the bar. Or brunch really. It starts at ten.”

  He was momentarily startled. “Okay. What about if I knock on your door just before then and we can walk down together.”

  She smiled, almost shyly. “I’d like that.”

  She walked out, closing the door
softly behind her.

  Thad stared at it, not knowing what to think. She had definitely calmed down. She wasn’t angry with him anymore. But whether she was starting to believe him was another story. At least she appeared to have decided that he wasn’t a threat to her safety, which was nice. He thought she would hardly have invited him to join her for breakfast if she thought he was dangerous.

  He collapsed onto the bed, hearing it squeak loudly. Tomorrow he would start from scratch and start trawling the desert around here again. Hopefully he would have better luck than he had today.

  He closed his eyes. Whether Keeley was by his side was another matter. He tried to suppress the stab of excitement that he felt at the thought of it.

  ***

  Keeley opened the door to her room and walked to the bathroom, turning on the shower and stepping into the small cubicle. The hot water was patchy and the water pressure not good, but at least it was getting her clean. Washing off the day and its strange twists and turns.

  She picked up the small bar of soap and lathered herself vigorously. The motion calmed her. She didn’t know what to think anymore. She was so confused she felt as if her head was swarming with a hive of bees.

  The fact that she was even contemplating that Thad might be telling her the truth was crazy. But he had been so calm and rational when he had spoken. And he didn’t seem to care either way whether she believed him or not.

  She sighed as she turned around in the small cubicle. No, it was ridiculous. Demons didn’t exist, and her dad hadn’t been investigating whether they did or not. Was she starting to lose her mind as well, even thinking of the possibility?

  The water suddenly went cold. She opened the sliding doors and stepped out, grabbing a towel. She winced slightly at the rough texture of it. It looked like it was at least ten years old and felt like sandpaper against her skin. Like it had been laundered thousands of times.

  She slipped into her boxers and singlet, climbing into the bed. The mattress almost groaned beneath her. She was so tired she could barely keep her eyes open, but she knew instinctively she wasn’t going to have a good night’s rest on this bed. She picked up the paperback she had brought with her for some light reading but put it back down almost immediately. Her head was whirring, and she couldn’t concentrate.

  Thad. He had looked so utterly different when he had opened the door that she had barely recognised him. The wild unkempt beard was completely gone, and he had roughly cut his hair as well. The man that he was underneath all that hair had emerged, like a butterfly from a chrysalis.

  She grinned to herself. Ellen had been right. There was a very handsome man lurking beneath all that hair. So handsome in fact that he had almost taken her breath away.

  Thad Morgan hadn’t been hiding some hideous facial deformity. His face was chiselled and smooth, with a strong jaw. Those wild golden green eyes suddenly looked more magnetic, too, although she had always been struck by them.

  Thad Morgan was drop dead gorgeous. She shivered just thinking about him. He didn’t look so old anymore either. Only a few years older than she was.

  And he no longer looked like a wild crazy mountain man. Keeley sighed, considering. Was it just his new look that was slowly convincing her that he wasn’t crazy? Now that he was handsome and clean shaven he was also sane?

  Her eyelids fluttered as she fought sleep, desperately searching for an answer. Was he crazy or not?

  She turned to her right side, hugging the pillow. He claimed that her father’s words that he repeated constantly meant something. That they were a warning.

  Was her father trying to communicate with them? Was he frantically trying to warn them of something in the only way that he could?

  She just didn’t know. And she could hardly return to Coyote River and ask him if he was referring to demons. He never answered. She couldn’t possibly find out the truth of it that way.

  Thad wanted her to go home. He had told her that if he found out anything he would try to tell her. She knew that he had been trying to comfort her, but it had achieved the opposite effect. All that she could think about was the way he had spoken, saying that he wouldn’t be returning to Coyote River or his cabin there. What had he meant by that? Was he planning to return to Covenester?

  Her eyes flew open, and she felt her blood run cold. No, he hadn’t been telling her that. What he meant was that he didn’t expect to go anywhere after here.

  He was telling her that he expected to die.

  Her heart twisted so violently it was almost a physical pain. She suppressed a sob. Why was she so upset at the very thought? She didn’t even know him that well, and half the time she had known him, she thought he was crazy. Why should it concern her what happened to him? It wasn’t as if it meant it was going to happen, anyway. It might just be another part of his delusion.

  But what if it wasn’t?

  Her eyes closed again. There wouldn’t be any answers tonight. Tomorrow she would have breakfast with him then wish him well in his crazy search. It seemed safer that way.

  ***

  She was still tired when the knock on her door came the next morning. She had spent half the night tossing and turning, trying to get comfortable. But sleep when it had finally arrived had been elusive.

  She took a deep breath, adjusting her sundress. Then she walked to the door and opened it.

  He looked like he had just showered; his hair was still damp. Her heart constricted just gazing at him. He wasn’t wearing his old uniform of flannel-checked shirt and grubby trousers anymore. Her smile tightened as she checked out his black t-shirt and faded blue denim jeans.

  Damn. He looked not only handsome but almost unbearably sexy.

  He smiled. “How did you sleep?”

  She smiled back, her heart racing. “Terribly. Thanks for asking.”

  He laughed. “It isn’t great here, is it?” he said, staring at her. “I’ve barely slept a wink either. I think they need to replace all the mattresses in this motel pronto.”

  She was just about to say she agreed, when his eyes widened. He was staring at a spot beyond her head. She turned around, puzzled, following his gaze.

  “That painting,” he whispered.

  She gazed at it, frowning. “Yeah, it’s pretty intense. Not the kind of thing I would put in a motel room.”

  With difficulty he tore his eyes away from it, staring down at her.

  “It is intense,” he said. “Way too intense for a motel room. And it also tells me a lot about the Hacienda.”

  “What do you mean?” she said, her frown deepening.

  He took a deep breath. “Those creatures in it,” he explained. “They are demons. The Vilgath. Which means that whoever placed that painting there either knows of them or is one of them.” He paled. “And they also know where this place I’m searching for is located.”

  “How?” Keeley stared back at the painting. “How do you know that?”

  He shuddered slightly. “Because it’s a picture of a building in the desert, Keeley. And the demons are travelling towards it.”

  Chapter Ten

  Keeley smiled politely as the plate of bacon and eggs was placed before her, staring down at it dubiously. The rashers looked so fatty they were almost glistening with grease, and the eggs were shrivelled and slightly burnt. So much for brunch at the Farrow Valley bar. It didn’t look any better than the burger and fries she had consumed here the night before.

  “Thank you.” Thad stared up at the bartender, smiling. “Looks great.”

  The man merely grunted, walking off. Thad picked up the ketchup on the table, liberally slopping it over his own bacon and eggs. Keeley stared at him in dismay.

  “My mother would be horrified,” she said slowly. “She always told me off if I tried to put ketchup on bacon and eggs.”

  Thad grinned. “I have a feeling the ketchup will make this edible. Or at least drown out the taste.”

  Keeley shrugged, picking up the ketchup and dousing her own meal with
it. Then she took a bite. He was right. The sauce did make the meal slightly better.

  She stared at him while she ate, amazed at how quickly he wolfed down the meal. She was only half finished by the time he pushed the plate away and picked up his coffee.

  “You have an appetite,” she said slowly, pushing away her half finished meal. “I tried, but that was truly awful.”

  He took a sip of his coffee. “It was one of the worst meals I’ve ever had.”

  She frowned, staring around the place. It wasn’t as if it was exactly crowded in here. They were the only ones eating, and the chef still hadn’t managed to cook the meal well. And bacon and eggs weren’t exactly cordon bleu cooking.

  “This place is strange,” she said, picking up her own coffee. “You’d think that they’d be bending over backwards to do things well around here. Attract the tourists. If there are gold mines in the desert, the town could be cashing in on that. And yet it’s like they don’t care in the slightest. Why?”

  “Good point,” said Thad. “I think it’s because they don’t want people from out of town coming to visit.” He took a deep breath. “Think about it. The people are rude, and the service is abysmal. That motel has to be the worst I’ve ever stayed in. They are doing it deliberately. They could be making a mint from tourists.”

  Keeley nodded. He was right. Farrow Valley didn’t welcome out-of-towners. The population were almost hostile. And the Hacienda was almost crumbling to ruins.

  “The question is,” continued Thad, drinking his coffee, “why they don’t want people to come to town. And the answer to that has to be the building in the desert.”

  Keeley gazed at him. He was consumed with this mysterious building in the desert that he claimed the book had told him about. And then he had claimed that the building in the painting hanging above the bed in her motel room had to be it.