by C C Daniels
A deep breath, I aimed for whoever would come through the barn door and sent a thought.
Someone’s coming! Get out!
I heard an audible “Crap!” and footsteps scrambled inside.
The second I saw a shadow, I swung the pole at it as hard as I could. The guy had great reflexes. He deflected the pole in midswing with a forearm and knocked it out of my hands. Then, he pushed me to the ground face-first and put a knee in my back.
He grabbed my hair to pull my head up. “Where is it?!”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said.
His voice was definitely familiar. He was the man in black who meant to shoot Kanaan.
“I’m not stupid, little lady.” He pushed harder on my back.
I screamed.
I heard Ella going berserk inside the barn.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw MawMaw look out of the back door. Fearing more for her and Ella than me, I sent the bad guy a message.
Do you hear sirens?
It didn’t work. C’mon. I willed the quirk to obey, held my breath and tried again. That time I imaged the sound of the sirens.
“Freaking police!” He took his knee off my back, but he didn’t let go of my hair right away. He pulled my head way back so that he spoke directly in my ear.
“This isn’t the end of it,” the man in black said. “We will keep coming back until we get it. Do you understand me?”
“Wray?” I heard MawMaw call and the screen door slam close. “What’s going on?”
I conjured louder sounds of more sirens in my mind. It must have worked, because he quickly let go of my hair. My head dropped so violently that I almost hit my nose on the ground. A heated anger poured through me. “You son of a bitch!” I screamed through the loud pop in my ears.
Everything froze. MawMaw walking to the barn. The man in black running onto the trail into the Garden.
I jumped up, grabbed the pole and got ready to lob it like a spear at my attacker’s back. Time unfroze and the pole hit its target with a satisfying thud.
He arched and brought his shoulders back, so I knew he felt it. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to knock him down. The pole fell to the dirt with a puff of dust and the guy ran on.
I burned with an absolute rage I had never felt before.
“Wray!” MawMaw grabbed my arm to spin me around. When I looked at her, she gasped.
“Your eyes.”
“What about them?”
Still angry, I flicked my gaze back to the trail that the man in black had disappeared down.
“They’re gold.”
Gold? I brought my attention back to her.
A slow nod and scrunched brow, her eyes darted between mine.
I closed my scalding hot eyes and willed the torrid rage down. Feeling calmer and cooler, I opened my eyes. “Better?”
She squinted at me for a long moment. Finally, she nodded and pulled me into a hug, then held me at arm’s length to inspect my torso. “Did he hurt you?”
“No, MawMaw.” But that he wanted to hurt me and the people I loved stoked my anger all over again. “I want you to go inside and call the police.” I kept my voice calm and pushed against the fury.
“You come with me,” she insisted.
“I have to check on Ella.” Feeling the heat rising in my eyes, I looked away. “If he hurt her.” I took a few steps toward the barn door. “Please, MawMaw. Just go call nine-one-one?”
“Yes, all right, but lock yourself in the barn until the police come or I get back,” she demanded.
I watched MawMaw until she was safely in the house. Then, I went into the barn and, as she requested, wrenched the door closed behind me. “Shh, girl. It’s okay now.”
I patted Ella’s neck to soothe her. It worked a little, but either she was too riled up, or she felt my still simmering fury at the intruder. Looking her over the best I could, I didn’t see any injuries. Then I looked at the rest of the barn. It was as trashed as a barn could be, just like last time.
Sirens blared, real sirens this time, a few blocks away. I stepped back outside and stood there in muddy cowboy boots and a ratty jacket pulled over my pajamas, waiting for them.
Motion up the street caught my attention. There was Kanaan, in pajama pants, sprinting down the middle of the street toward me. His chest was bare and his coal black hair flowed out behind him, like a warrior running into battle.
I rolled my eyes at myself.
Sure, Wray, I chastised myself, forget the assault you just experienced to ogle Kanaan. He looked amazing, though, so much so that I couldn’t look away.
His eyes locked with mine. “What happened?” He wasn’t even breathless when he reached me.
“One of the men in black was in the barn this morning,” I said.
Kanaan hugged me tightly cradling my head.
“Are you sure it was one of them?”
“Certain of it.”
The hot anger threatened to rise again. I shook it off and, over his shoulder, focused on the red spires of the Garden that the morning sun had just begun to light up. I stepped back from Kanaan when Chief Danny’s cruiser pulled into the cul-de-sac.
MawMaw, using her cane, came up behind us on the walk.
“You should have waited in the house,” I said as softly as I could.
Clasping my hand tight, she shook her head defiantly. It was then that I noticed she had tears in her eyes. “My place is here beside you,” she said brokenly.
I gently hugged her shoulder. “Don’t worry, I’m okay,” I tried to reassure her.
Chief Danny got out of his car. “MawMaw,” he addressed her as another cop pulled in with lights flashing. “Check the barn, Charlie.”
The officer did as he was told while MawMaw and I told the chief what had happened. Well, I told him everything except for the mind-bending ability. He wouldn’t have believed me even if I had told him.
Kanaan didn’t leave my side, but he got angrier as my story went on. “So you decided to take on an intruder all by yourself?”
I glanced up at him. “Yes.”
“Are you crazy?”
“You would’ve done the same thing, Kanaan.”
“I’m a man.”
“And sexist!”
“Kids!” the chief scolded us.
MawMaw rocked on her feet. She was going to collapse if she didn’t sit down.
“Let’s go inside.” I took her arm to steady her.
Officer Charlie came out of the barn. “We’ll get nothing from in there, Chief.”
“I have a few more questions, but we can finish this inside.” Chief Danny offered MawMaw his arm too.
She dropped mine to take his. “Wray, you check on Ella.” But she motioned to Kanaan, who glared at me with his hands on his hips.
“Call Uncle Jun, okay?” I said.
“I already did.” She let Chief Danny take her back to the house.
Right on cue, Uncle Jun’s SUV pulled alongside the police cars. “The same guys?” I felt his tension even before he got all the way out of his truck.
I nodded. “Only one of them.”
“I knew better than to leave you alone last night!”
“The intruder got here this morning, Uncle Jun.”
He wasn’t listening to me but ran for the house to catch up with MawMaw and the chief just as they went inside.
The pole I threw still lay on the trail. I went to get it and brought it back to the barn.
“The guy probably has a pretty good-sized bruise on the small of his back.” I rolled the pole in my hands.
Kanaan looked angrily at me. “You threw that?” His hair spilled across his broad shoulders.
“Yes.” I walked to the stack of poles.
“What the hell were you thinking, Wray?”
That jerk was messing with my horse. I let that thought leave my mind.
“You’re a girl! You should have gone back inside and called the police,” he shouted at m
e.
“What difference does my gender make? He was in the barn with Ella!” I shouted right back and felt the heat rise to my eyes again.
I consciously willed it away, put the pole back, and started for the house. “I’ve got to get ready for school,” I said over my shoulder.
I heard him cuss under his breath.
“I guess I should go home and do the same then,” he said to my retreating back.
“Guess so,” I hollered back.
“See you in a few then,” he said from a bit farther away.
I glanced over my shoulder. His back to me, he took long strides down the street to his house. His hair fluttered from his quick pace.
I rolled my eyes at my inappropriate self again.
Chapter 18
Sitting at the kitchen table with the chief, MawMaw glanced at me. Her eyes were redder than before.
“Aw, MawMaw, I told you I was okay.” I gave her a soft hug.
Uncle Jun, at the sink prepping a pot of coffee, shot me a guilty look.
“Wray?” Chief Danny addressed me.
“Yes.” I kept a supportive hand on MawMaw’s shoulder.
“You said the man sounded like one of the intruders from the other day.”
I nodded.
“Do you remember any identifying features this time?”
I shook my head no.
“He wasn’t wearing a mask this time. I tried to get a look at him, but he had me pinned facedown on the ground.”
Uncle Jun groaned and turned to look at me. “He what?”
“I’ll tell you more later, Uncle Jun.” I motioned to MawMaw with a tilt of my head. There was no reason to upset her all over again.
Both he and Chief Danny seemed to get my meaning.
“Okay, then.” The chief stood up. “I’m putting a patrol on the house every hour.”
Uncle Jun scowled. “You put a man here full-time, Danny.”
“Well, now I’d like to, Jun. I did and will again when I have the staff. But I’m short three officers this week.”
Something in his voice told me there was more to it than that. Try as I might, though, I couldn't see into his thoughts. Or Uncle Jun’s for that matter. What good were telepathy quirks if they didn't work when I wanted them to?
My uncle pushed the start button on the coffee maker. “Then I’m staying for the day.”
“That’s good.” I nodded. “You can keep an eye on MawMaw while I’m at school.”
MawMaw looked at me in disbelief. “You’re not going to school.”
“I already missed a day this week. I can’t afford to miss any more.” I protested.
Getting into the psychology program at my first-pick university was important to me, therefore a good attendance record at MSHS was important to me. But so was the safety of my grandmother.
I focused on the smell of the fresh coffee brewing to keep my anger about the situation—the men in black specifically—from boiling over into my eyes.
I looked at the chief. “I’m safe going to school, right?”
“Actually, you’re safer at school with a lot of people around than you are alone in a barn fighting off a guy four times your size.” He cocked his head sideways and looked at me pointedly. “Next time you hear something out of the ordinary, call for help.”
I almost laughed out loud. I’d been hearing a lot of things out of the ordinary. “Yes, sir.” I wasn’t sorry for what I did, but I nodded as I moved toward the staircase.
“Make sure you’re never alone. That includes walking to and from school,” he called after me.
“Yes, sir,” I said again and scurried up to the bathroom.
After a quick shower, I loosely braided my hair toward the front so it would air-dry with minimal kinks and chose a warm fall outfit—soft gray cords and a blush pink MawMaw-made sweater.
By the time I was ready, Kanaan and Amaya were waiting for me in the kitchen. Kanaan leaned on the back door and watched me. From his expression, I gathered he was still angry with me. Amaya sat at the table with MawMaw and Uncle Jun. Her eyes wide, she bounced up the moment she saw me and hugged me.
“I’m okay.” I hugged her back. I looked at the clock on the microwave. “We are so late.”
For breakfast, I grabbed one of MawMaw’s homemade granola bars from the fridge. I offered Kanaan and Amaya each one, but they had already eaten.
I went to MawMaw and kissed her on her good cheek. “Love you.”
She caught my head so I couldn’t pull away.
“Be careful,” she said. “I know it’s not you that they’re after, but just be careful, okay?”
Her eyes narrowed, as she realized, I think, that she just admitted that she knew what they wanted. “You must breathe deeper,” she added in a whisper that shocked me further. PhD MawMaw repeating, almost verbatim, a woo-woo MawMaw raving was a first. “Just breathe very, very deep,” she repeated, pulled her head back and let me go.
I wished no one was there. I wished that I could have a private conversation with PhD MawMaw right then.
Kanaan pushed himself off the door. “Wray’ll be safe. I’ll make sure of that,” he assured her.
With a slow turn of her head, she looked at him—her scrutinizing expression a mixture of confidence and wariness. “I expect you to. I also expect you to be on your best behavior.”
Eyes on the doorknob he was twisting, Kanaan didn't respond right away.
“When did he not behave?” Uncle Jun asked with a frown.
“Never.” I stuck up for Kanaan.
MawMaw pursed her lips and shook her disapproving head at the both of us.
“Something I should know about, boy?” Uncle Jun looked sideways at Kanaan.
Amaya’s eyes darted from Uncle Jun to Kanaan to me and back at Uncle Jun.
Pulling his shoulders back and chin up, Kanaan kept a hand on the door he had just opened. Slowly, one by one, he eyed each adult, then shifted his focus to me. “Know that I treasure Wray.” He looked at Uncle Jun. “Always have.” With a blink, Kanaan looked at MawMaw. “Always will.”
Heat rushed to my face. To hide what surely must have been a beet-red blush, I got busy putting on my jacket and pulling a slouchy beanie over my still damp head. Pack on my shoulder, I paused a moment to look back at MawMaw. She stared at Kanaan who boldly met her intense gaze and didn't back down.
Lips rolled in on a grin she was trying to hide, Amaya ducked under his arm and went outside.
With one single deep nod, MawMaw broke her stare down with Kanaan and moved her attention to me. Breathe, she mouthed, very deep. She put a hand on her abdomen and inhaled as a demonstration.
I nodded that I would and followed Amaya outside with Kanaan right behind me. Aside from a still amused Amaya glancing at Kanaan every now and again, the three of us walked in silence.
Breathing deeply—partly because it was becoming instinctive, partly because MawMaw said I should, but mostly because I’d hoped it would keep my mind walled off—I waited until we got to the end of the cul-de-sac to speak.
“The guy this morning said that they wouldn’t stop until they got what they were looking for.”
Kanaan nodded. He was scanning the street ahead of us and occasionally walked backward to glance behind us too
“You can give it to the elders—” Amaya started.
“The men in black won’t know that and will continue to harass Wray and MawMaw,” Kanaan said. He took my hand. “And Wray will fight them.”
I smirked and squeezed his sexist hand. I still wasn’t sorry.
Amaya nodded. “And if we make it known to the men in black that we’re giving it to the elders, the entire tribe will become a target.”
Those were the same lousy options I had already thought of on my own.
“I think this is what they call a lose-lose situation.”
The piece in MawMaw’s bed flicked into my mind. It was an unwanted thought and I forced it away. I hadn't felt it leave my head, but—out o
f the corner of my eye—I glanced at Kanaan and Amaya. Neither of them seemed to have heard me.
Inhale deep. Exhale slow. I repeated it over and over.
We waited for the light to cross Manitou Avenue.
“What are we going to do?” Amaya murmured low.
“Well, one thing is for certain.” I looked at her with a confidence I tried hard not to fear. “I will do everything I can to keep it away from the men in black. If they want it this badly—” I shook my head, wondering and worrying about their motives.
Kanaan nodded at me. “I’m with you on that.”
We arrived at school super late. The halls totally empty, we separated for our classes. I glanced in Mr. Smith’s classroom as I went by on my way to English. He did a double take, sort of surprised to see me wandering the halls.
I barely heard a word through English or social studies. Trying to think of a solution to my problem, without really giving thought to the objects for which I needed a solution, was absolute torture.
Though deep systematic breathing worked wonders, I was afraid my thoughts might leak, and I wasn't willing to take that chance. I substituted the word apples along with images of the fruit for both the skull and the piece in MawMaw’s bed.
Keeping either apple was out of the question. At that point, so was reburying the big one. What if those thugs figured it out? They’d destroy Garden of the Gods looking for it. The bell signaled the end of social studies. I didn’t jump out of my seat like the other kids. Slowly, I stuffed my things into my pack, got up, and was the last one into the crowded hall. Deep, regulated breathing was a great help. It was also a mystery. How did MawMaw know that breathing was the secret to my problem? How did she even know what my problem was?
Kanaan reached through the throng of bodies and pulled me aside. He stood there, staring at me with raised eyebrows.
“Did you go mute?” I was only half joking, given all the stranger than strangeness that was my life.
“You’re not hearing me, I gather,” he said.
I shook my head no.
“Why aren’t you doing the mind-reading thing?”
I sighed. “I don’t really have control over it.”
