All he could do was occasionally check the clock as it continued its interminable crawl toward seven. He even showered and shaved a second time. But in the end, that didn’t help either. Then, in a fit of desperation, he dug through the different sets of clothes he had been provided for this trip and selected the best ones.
And it was that same desperation, while standing in front of the mirror and evaluating the fit of his new clothes, that prompted him into making his next decision.
By God, he wasn’t a prisoner, he wasn’t some puerile twelve-year-old to be babysat, and he wasn’t some teenage dork whose lack of social skills chained him to his room. This was ridiculous. He couldn’t do anything further about being hunted by psychopathic Valkyries or mammoth spiders at the moment, but there was one situation he could deal with.
It was man-up time.
Now all he had to do was wait the hour and a half until seven to do it.
As it turned out, it was only six o’clock when he knocked upon Olivia’s door, but he had had it with waiting.
“Adam?” She opened the door, her voice tinged with mild concern. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes,” he replied and braced himself, “everything is okay. But it would be a heck of a lot better if I could persuade you to hold off on that last hour of work and come out with me instead.”
“Out?” She gave him a puzzled look. “Out where?”
Good question.
“Um, anywhere! Just out…out on the town!”
She raised one perfect eyebrow.
“You want to go ‘out on the town’…in Hallisboro, Texas…on a Monday night…”
The first hint that his spur of the moment stroke of courage may have been poorly timed began to creep in. But Adam knew he was committed now. His only hope lay in forging forward. At least she hadn’t slammed the door on him…or shot him. He supposed in this new life the latter could always be a possibility too. These people did have a history of shooting each other.
“Sure, why not? I gather it might be a little limited but every town has its charms.”
“You’ve never been to Hallisboro before, have you.”
“True,” he conceded. He had the sudden suspicion Hallisboro might not exactly be the social hotspot of Southeast Texas. What he recalled seeing of it didn’t inspire confidence. Still, it was now or never and he mentally flailed for a solution. Fortunately, an old but reliable standby had occurred to him earlier. “But what about a movie? I’m sure even Hallisboro has a theater or two.”
Olivia regarded him with a completely unreadable expression.
At that moment, Adam had never seen a more beautiful yet intimidating woman in his life. Once again she displayed the almost regal inscrutability that seemed to define her. Her unfathomable gaze measured him up and down, and he quailed at the thought he had made this move too soon. He had only met her about twelve days ago, and until recently her role had been more custodial than anything else.
“Soooo,” she continued slowly, “you are inviting me out to a movie?”
“Yes,” he answered with a stoutness he did not feel, “I would be honored if you would accompany me to a movie.”
“Ahhh… Do you know what is playing?”
“I have absolutely no idea, whatsoever. Their theaters here do not seem to advertise in the paper on Mondays, and their recording on the phone only gives ticket prices.”
“That sounds like the Hallisboro I know.”
“Nevertheless,” he continued gamely, “I think it worthwhile to take the risk and go in blind. Think of it as an adventure. Let fortune decide our entertainment. What do you say?”
Adam held his breath and waited as she treated him to another few seconds of silence. He tried to imagine how many offers of dates and other arrangements a woman of her quality received, and what level of men offered them. He knew there were probably many and made by the best. Hell, she probably had a form letter just for turning down suitors on her computer.
Then she favored him with a mildly puzzled look as she answered.
“I suppose I better get my bag then. It appears I’m going to a movie.”
###
Sonni had almost finished arranging the tent when Carl’s scream rent the late afternoon air.
“Carl?” She stumbled out onto the sandbar. “CARL?!?!”
Assured by the weather reports no rain would be falling anywhere upstream, the two of them had felt brave enough to camp down in the riverbed next to the canoe. The sound of the Brazos right outside their door would make a romantic backdrop for the evening. So they pitched their tent and Sonni had started moving things from the canoe inside while Carl had gone out to collect firewood.
That had been maybe five minutes ago.
Now she stared around the dense ranks of trees lining both banks. The branches arched overhead, permitting only a narrow strip of sky to show down on the slow waters. And this near sunset, twilight reigned in the riverbed itself. No sign of her boyfriend offered itself in the gloom.
Another scream cut through the air and Sonni whirled to identify its source. That was definitely Carl! It could have come from anywhere, although she had the fleeting impression it came from somewhere above. But that didn’t make sense! Sonni did a slow revolution again, hoping for one more cry to help her pinpoint its location.
Nothing.
“CARL! WHERE ARE YOU?!”
Not even the crickets broke the ensuing silence.
“CARL?”
She walked up and down the sandbar, trying to spot any sign of movement or life other than her own.
“CARL! ANSWER ME!”
Still no reply.
Where was he?!
Sonni hugged her arms around herself, painfully aware of her solitude. Panic began to nibble at the edges of her thoughts. Carl counted as the outdoorsman of the pair, and while she had accompanied him on several camping trips she remained a city girl through and through. Her idea of the outdoors consisted of the rifle range and horse trails at her country club.
“CARL? PLEASE ANSWER ME! IF THIS IS A PRANK, IT’S NOT FUNNY ANYMORE!”
“A prank?”
Sonni shrieked and whirled at the new voice.
Somebody else was here…somebody close!
A woman stood at the other end of the sandbar. A very odd woman. With her scarf, gardening gloves, and flowered blouse she looked like she belonged in a suburban flower bed, not a remote sandbar in a deserted stretch of river.
“A prank?” the woman repeated. “What is a prank?”
Sonni struggled to understand the appearance of this newcomer, and her question as well. The woman stood at the end of the sandbar farthest from shore yet was perfectly dry. How in the hell? The only way she could have gotten there was to walk right past her, but the sandbar only measured fifteen feet wide so how could she have done it?
And come to think of it, what kind of question was “What is a prank?” Who didn’t know what a prank was?
“Oh,” the strange woman peered intently at her, “it’s frightening somebody for the purpose of humor or amusement. It often seems to involve deception. And this is…funny?”
“Wha…?” Sonni shook her head and regrouped. “No…waitaminute. None of this is funny! Who are you? Do you live around here?”
“Names again,” the stranger sighed.
Sonni eyed the woman and wondered if she were drunk or something. She couldn’t look more out of place, and her attitude had a level of detachment that added an element of eeriness to the whole conversation.
“I don’t really have a name,” the interloper continued. “Not one of my own. I have several faces and they have names though. And I currently live in a barn nearby.”
Okay, forget eerie. Things were now going past creepy and back to frightening.
“Yeeaahhhh…” Sonni backed a little further away. “CARL?! I REALLY NEED YOU TO COME BACK NOW!”
The distant splashing of footsteps caught her attention and she spun with hopeful re
lief toward the sound. Thank God! She wasn’t alone anymore.
But it wasn’t Carl. And Sonni couldn’t tell if this new arrival represented an improvement in matters or not.
Another woman strode toward them. Only this one appeared very different than the eerie housewife she shared the sandbar with. This newcomer was tall, rangy, and wore a pair of camouflage pants with a black t-shirt. She snapped a cell phone she had been speaking into closed and shoved it into her pocket as she approached. She appeared younger than the woman on the sandbar, but the harsh angles of her face bore a grim look of purpose that didn’t bode well.
The enormous pistol she pulled from a holster strapped across her back didn’t lighten the mood either.
“I suppose this was inevitable,” the housewife muttered, then spoke up as the newcomer stalked onto the sandbar. “Hello, Maggie.”
The blond ignored her and turned to Sonni instead.
“What have you seen?” she demanded.
“Wha..?”
“WHAT HAVE YOU SEEN?” the younger woman yelled. “FOCUS!”
“Uh…I don’t…”
“Nothing. Good.” The blond gestured at the canoe with her pistol. “Get in your boat and leave. Now.”
“But…”
“It’s too late for that, Maggie.” The housewife calmly interrupted. “She had a companion. He’s with me now.”
Maggie spared a glance toward the other occupant of the sandbar.
“The Sellars woman,” the blonde growled. “I suppose it ain’t no surprise. You got away with her before I had a clean shot.”
“But you cost me her mate,” the housewife responded, “and the boy. That wasn’t very nice.”
Sonni looked from one to the other. What the hell were these two talking about? It was obvious they knew each other.
“Cost you?” the blonde snarled. “Cost you? How dare you!”
Something changed in the tall woman’s eyes. Something primal. A second ago, Sonni thought the blond was some form of rescue, now she wasn’t so sure. At the moment, both ignored her…and Sonni got the strangest feeling it was because she really didn’t matter very much.
“You really do hate me, don’t you Maggie.”
“You have no idea.”
“I’m not sure that’s quite fair.”
“Fair?” the younger woman spat. “What would you know about fair? Show yourself and we can get this over with. We can do this right now!”
“I didn’t kill your father, Maggie.”
“You’re still the reason he died!”
“No. I reject that.”
“You what?”
“I said,” the suburban woman repeated in the same eerie, calm voice, “I reject that. I did not kill your father. I never raised a fang against him, even when he stood between me and what was mine. And that was all before I was truly me.”
“But you were the cause!”
“No. I reject that as well. I did not send your father to Houston. Nor am I responsible for the thinking of those who did. I did not put an aging man in a situation his daughter could have easily handled, merely because I wasn’t ready to trust her.”
The tall girl didn’t reply, but there was definitely something going on with her eyes. Sonni stared in terrified fascination as they changed. What the hell was she? Who exactly was the bad guy here? The woman in the flowered blouse definitely creeped her out, but every inch of the blonde now radiated a very physical aura of violence. Bloody violence. And she was the one with the gun.
“And for that matter,” the older woman continued, “I’m not the one standing in the way of you finishing what he tried to do.”
“It’s over with. I’m not permitted. There is a truce now.”
“Because the Dog People show up with a stick and some feathers? Don’t you see a problem with that, Maggie?”
“It is not my…my…”
“Not your place? Not your right?” The woman moved slowly toward the girl, but stopped at a warning look from her. “So you can see me. That only proves my point. You are superior to all of them but one, and she is old and feeble. Who are they to tell you what is or is not your right? They don’t even trust you!”
“I—I made a mistake.”
“No. You struck back at the man your father died trying to reach, and the people who stood between you and him. And they still refuse you your right to finish him, because of a stick with some feathers. And you think I’m your enemy?”
“He…doesn’t…matter…anymore.” The muscles in her neck and jaw stood out. “He’s just some pitiful wretch hiding in a hotel room until the end of the week and then he’s gone. I saw him two nights ago and he was almost too pathetic to kill.”
“Oh really?” The other woman half smiled. “Then you haven’t heard the latest. I was under the bridge downriver when young Arlen crossed it on his way back from Hallisboro. He had been visiting Billy, and he was laughing at the antics of the outsider. It seems your ‘pathetic’ man is out on a date with the Dog woman.”
“What?”
“I believe it’s called dinner and a movie.”
“WHAT?”
“You heard me. Your father is dead in an anonymous grave in Houston, and the man he died over is having a high old time here in Hallisboro. But I’m sure they eventually intended on telling you, probably as soon as…Maggie?”
The younger woman had turned away and now strode back toward the river bank. She moved like purpose personified. But she only covered about ten feet before coming to an abrupt halt and turning back to confront Sonni. Nothing human remained in her eyes as she raised the large pistol.
“Nothing personal,” she stated in a flat voice. “Shit just worked out this way.”
“What!? No please!” Sonni gasped in surprise. “I didn’t do anything to you! I don’t understand!”
The grim look on the girl’s face suggested that wasn’t a consideration. She pointed the gun at Sonni’s head and sighted.
“Maggie, don’t,” the older woman interrupted in a gentle voice.
“Why not?”
“I did you a service and let you know what was going on. Why don’t you return the gesture and leave this female alive with me. Even enemies have honor between them.”
Sonni held her breath, her eyes locked on the enormous tunnel of the gun barrel. As odd as the elder woman spoke, Sonni knew her intervention was the only hope left. Whatever this creature with the gun was, it didn’t appear pity or mercy had much to do with her decision making.
“Creature?” the girl muttered.
What the hell? Sonni knew she hadn’t said that aloud.
“Creature?” the blonde repeated. She barked a bitter laugh, and lowered the weapon. Her eyes had returned to human, but they were hard with anger…and something else. “Woman, I was showing mercy. I would have been doing you a favor. But I’ve got my own man to kill. I’ll leave you to your ‘savior.’”
With that she turned and marched across the shallow neck of water separating the sandbar from the banks and disappeared into the trees.
Sonni listened to her stomping footsteps fade into the underbrush. It was a definite relief when they vanished.
“Now,” said the older woman’s voice behind her, “speaking of pranks…before her backup arrives…you want to see something really scary?”
Sonni groaned in exasperation. With the gun toting Amazon gone, the whole creepy act from the other had begun to wear thin. She turned around with the firm intention of taking command of the conversation…then froze at the sight that greeted her eyes.
“Boo,” said the monster covering the other end of the sandbar.
She remembered nothing after that.
###
“You’ve done it!” Cesar fairly screamed. “You’ve finally done it! You have gone completely crazy!”
Restrained violence hung in the air of the council room like an electric charge.
“No,” Antonio glowered, not a hint of a smile behind his now smolde
ring cigar. “Not yet.”
“What do you mean, ‘No!’ You just left our most valuable young asset right under the noses of our enemies! Are you trying to get her killed? Are you? My God, if nothing else she’s your niece!”
The Chieftain bit down on the cigar, incisors cutting through the outer leaves, and narrowed his eyes.
“I am well aware of my relationship to my sub-chieftain.” he replied with tight control. “And as she so eloquently insisted, I cannot let it stand in the way of her doing her job.”
“Another indulgence we should have never allowed! And now she’s playing sub-chieftain down there completely unprotected! For God’s sake, man! At least send some men down there to cover her!”
“NO!” Antonio thundered. “Absolutely not! Not only will I not do that, but I forbid any member of this tribe to go within fifty miles of Hallisboro without my direct permission!”
“She’s alone up there! She’s an analyst, dammit! Not a foot soldier! But you’ve got her sitting there not a hundred yards from one of their second generation guns!”
“Which is exactly why I don’t want anybody up there but her and I. This situation is far too delicate, and the last thing I want is one of our guns in close proximity to one of theirs. And him being second generation only means we would need more than one if we did send them, and each one would be one more variable that could go wrong and blow this whole situation to hell.”
“This whole situation…,” Marcus interrupted. “Yes, let’s get to that. I thought this mission was about getting the Spider People to cease their attention-grabbing attacks on the outsider. Now suddenly it’s become a diplomatic venture this council never authorized.”
“Shit happens,” Antonio snapped. “Olivia decided to test a theory of hers in our approach to the Spider People and it ended up working even better than anticipated. They have not only stopped their attacks and are now trying to bargain with Mr. Sellars, but they extended an offer to meet with us as well. This wasn’t the plan but it has happened. We have a real opportunity here.”
Spiderstalk Page 33
