Take the Monkey and Run

by Laura Morrigan

  She looked at me. “Nothing. At least not that I saw.”

  “I didn’t notice anything, either,” I confirmed.

  “Do you think he has some sort of ability himself?” Kai asked. “Has he altered his own DNA?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t think so. When he talked about tapping into the vibrations of the universe, he didn’t include himself.”

  Ronnie nodded. “He seemed almost envious of us.”

  “Then it must be something else,” Kai said thoughtfully. “A device of some sort.”

  “Maybe it’s the radio Anya took from the van,” Hugh said. “Or something that looked like a radio.”

  “That’s one way to keep a psychic from finding you,” Ronnie said. “Ride around in an ESP-proof vehicle. Only Barry didn’t have anything like that with him in the coffee shop.”

  “The earpiece,” I said. “Remember? He was fiddling with it while we were sitting there.” I looked at Kai. “Would it be possible for something that small to be effective?”

  “At this point I’m starting to believe anything’s possible.”

  “We’ll have to worry about that later,” Emma said. “Right now, let’s focus on finding Belinda.”

  “Agreed,” I said.

  “You back online, kid?” Emma asked Ronnie.

  “Yeah, I think so, hang on.” She took a quick, deep breath and closed her eyes. A second later, a warm sensation washed over me.

  “Yep,” I said.

  “Wait,” Emma said, “you can feel whatever it is she’s doing?”

  I nodded. “It’s like walking through a ray of sunshine on a cold day. Except the warmth goes all the way through you.”

  “Apricity,” Hugh said.

  Everyone looked at him.

  “What? It’s a word,” he said. “Look it up.”

  “There’s only one problem,” Ronnie said. “I’m not very good at this, remember? We were coming here to get Belinda’s help because I couldn’t get a fix on my mamere’s location.”

  That stopped us for a moment.

  “We have to try,” I said.

  “I’m willing to try anything,” Ronnie assured me. “I just don’t know any more than I did before. You saw my notebook—there’s almost nothing to go on.”

  “But this is different,” Kai said. “Before you were looking for Hattie. Now you’ll be looking for Belinda.”

  “How is that going to help?”

  “He’s right, Ronnie,” I said, feeling a surge of hope. “You just said it yourself: you felt another psychic when Anya showed up in that van. It had to have been Belinda.”

  “Maybe the issue isn’t that you don’t know what you’re doing,” Emma said. “Maybe the problem is your relationship with your mamere.”

  “Wouldn’t that help?” Hugh asked.

  “Not if she’s too emotional about it,” I said. “I know I have to shut down my emotions completely sometimes to communicate with animals. If I don’t, I get lost and the connection . . . implodes, I guess.”

  “You think the fact that I don’t know Belinda will help?” Ronnie sounded dubious. “But, according to Mamere, connection is the key to finding someone. It only works if I have a link to someone’s energy. That’s why we use personal items, to form a link.”

  “Take a look around.” Hugh swept his hand over the shop. “There’s plenty to choose from.”

  “That’s not what I’m saying.” Ronnie paced in a circle and scrubbed her hands over her face.

  “You think the link should be stronger because of your relationship with Hattie,” Emma said.

  “Yes.”

  “But being close to someone doesn’t always help,” Emma said.

  “Sometimes it makes you crazy.” Kai turned to look at me. “Especially when you find out they volunteered to be abducted.”

  “You think that’s bad—” Ronnie started.

  “Anyway”—I wasn’t about to let her rat me out about telling Barry to shoot me—“I think you’ll have better luck trying to find Belinda. So, what do we need? Something personal, right?”

  Ronnie nodded. “Like a wedding ring or favorite sweater. Something she had with her a lot.”

  “How about a hairbrush?” Kai said.

  “We’re not looking for DNA,” I teased.

  Kai either didn’t think my joke was funny or was still upset that I’d put myself in danger, because he didn’t even crack a smile.

  “Right,” Ronnie said. “I make my connection through it, so it should be an item she’s attached to.”

  “I don’t know,” Emma mused. “I’ve had some pretty sweet hairbrushes.”

  “Let’s head into the kitchen,” I suggested. “She spends tons of time in there.”

  We filed out of the shop. I paused at the shrine to Oshun.

  “What is it?” Emma said, stopping beside me. “You think something on here would work?”

  “No. Belinda told me I could make an offering and ask for protection. I should have asked to protect her. I just didn’t know. Now I don’t have anything.”

  I patted my pockets.

  “I do—here.” Emma dug into the pocket of her jeans and pulled out a tube of lip balm.

  “But it’s your favorite, and they don’t make it anymore.”

  “Maybe that will give it extra kick.” She placed the lip balm on the altar. “Oshun, please keep our friend safe.”

  “Emma,” Hugh called from the kitchen. “Grace, we found something.”

  My sister and I hurried into the kitchen.

  “A skillet?” I said, looking at the object on the table in front of Ronnie.

  “Not just a skillet,” Hugh said. “This is Belinda’s favorite. She was telling me yesterday how long it’s taken her to get it seasoned. And how much she loves to cook with it.”

  “Think it will work?” I asked Ronnie.

  “Let’s find out,” she said.

  Closing her eyes, she placed her hands on either side of the cast-iron pan.

  We watched and waited.

  “I’m getting something,” Ronnie said.

  Kai had taken out his phone and was holding it toward her. Obviously recording her words.

  “It’s dark. There’s humming, like an engine. I think it’s the van.”

  I clasped my sister’s hand. She squeezed it as we waited for more.

  “The road is smooth. And it’s . . . that way.”

  Ronnie pointed.

  The entire group looked in the direction she’d indicated, as if there’d be something to see, but we were just staring at the kitchen wall.

  “It’s foggy.” Frowning, she shook her head. “I’m losing it.”

  We continued to wait in silence for a few more seconds, until Ronnie opened her eyes.

  “I couldn’t hang on to it.”

  “That’s okay,” Emma said. “You did great. At least we have a direction.”

  “Yeah,” she said. “But half the city’s that way.”

  “You said foggy—did you mean actual fog?” Kai asked. “Or was your link becoming murky?”

  “I don’t know. I’m sorry. That wasn’t much help. Let me try again.”

  Rolling her shoulders, Ronnie placed her hands on the skillet, blew out a breath, and closed her eyes.

  After a few minutes she gave up.

  “Nothing. It’s totally gone.”

  “I know this is going to sound crazy.” I paused to look around the room. “Okay, more crazy than all of this has been so far. But if Barry figured out a way to block us on a small scale, maybe he did it on a large scale, too.”

  “Like a giant psychic-blocking force field?” Emma sounded skeptical.

  “Why not?” Hugh said. “He managed to create a psychic monkey.”

  “Good poi
nt.”

  “It would explain why you can’t get more than a vague location,” Kai said, “if it’s made to block off a specific place, like a building. You wouldn’t be able to access anything inside.”

  “So we’re screwed.” Ronnie huffed out a frustrated breath and slumped back against the cabinets.

  A wave of inspiration hit me so hard I nearly dropped my glass of water. “I’ve got it.”

  “What?”

  “For whatever reason, Ronnie can’t get a bead on her grandmother or Belinda. Maybe because of some antipsychic force field, or maybe it’s something else. Whatever. But what about Cornelius?”

  “What about him?” Hugh asked.

  “Oh my God—you’re right,” Emma said.

  “What?” Ronnie asked.

  “Cornelius knows where Barry has been doing his experiments, because he was an experiment.”

  “It’s kind of poetic,” Hugh mused. We all looked confused, so he clarified, “You know, Barry flipped the psychic switch on Cornelius and that’s what let him escape.”

  I turned to Ronnie. “Think you can find a psychic monkey?”

  “A monkey?”

  Kai was nodding thoughtfully. “It could work.”

  “Not with monkeys,” Ronnie said. She looked shocked at the suggestion.

  “Why not? The concept is the same, right?” I asked.

  “But I don’t have anything of his to guide me,” Ronnie protested.

  And just like that, my big idea deflated like an old inner tube.

  “Use Grace,” Emma said.

  I perked up. “Will that work?”

  “I don’t know,” Ronnie said. “I’ve never used a person as a link before.”

  “It’s worth a shot, isn’t it?”

  “Say this works, and we find Cornelius,” Hugh said. “How are we going to catch a psychic monkey who can literally predict what we’re planning?”

  “We won’t have to catch him,” I said. “We just have to get him to lead us to wherever Anya and Barry are holding Belinda and Hattie.”

  “It’s our only option,” Kai said.

  “Then I guess we should try it.” Ronnie looked at me. “What do I need to do? Think about him or something?”

  “Your guess is as good as mine.”

  “Grace, I think you should try to focus on Cornelius and block out everything else,” Kai suggested. “You’ve had telepathic connections with too many animals. It might get confusing.”

  “Okay, give me a second.” I closed my eyes and pushed everything out of my head, filling it with white noise and static. Then, I pictured a dot in the center of my field of inner vision. I focused on the dot and brought it closer. The closer the dot got, the more features it developed. I could see a long, prehensile tail. And a sweet face with quick, curious eyes.

  “Okay,” I said.

  I felt Ronnie’s hands clasp mine.

  “Here goes,” she said, and we went.

  Lights flashed. Car horns blared. Blurred images lurched in and out of focus. Trees. A rooftop. A barking yellow dog.

  In a whirlwind the images flew by, then came to an abrupt halt.

  “Holy crap. That was like being in monkey warp-drive,” I said.

  “Did you see him?” Emma asked.

  “I saw a lot of stuff. Ronnie?”

  “Yeah, way too much. I got a direction, though.” She pointed.

  “That’s the opposite way from Belinda.”

  “Hey, wouldn’t you want to put distance between yourself and the mad scientist’s lab you’d escaped from?” I said.

  “Yes, but it’s still half the city,” Kai said.

  “No, it’s not.” I looked at my sister. “Em, where’s the monkey map?”

  “Um . . .” She looked at the kitchen table.

  “Here,” Hugh said. He’d obviously folded it up and out of the way when Ronnie had sat down to try to find Belinda with the skillet.

  Spreading the map out on the table, we tried to decide which hotspot on the map was in line with the direction Ronnie had indicated.

  “This one.” Emma pointed. “In Uptown.”

  “Let’s go,” I said.

  We loaded everyone, except Voodoo, into Bluebell. Once we got close to the monkey zone, Ronnie and I tried again to locate Cornelius. Holding her hand tightly in mine, I tried to maintain focus as images flooded my head in dizzying swirls of color and light. When Ronnie broke the connection, I was so light-headed that I almost toppled over.

  “You okay?” Emma asked from where she sat next to Ronnie.

  “Yeah, it’s just a wild ride.”

  “We’re much closer,” Ronnie said. “Take a right.”

  Kai, who was driving, did as she asked.

  “Somewhere along here,” she said.

  I nodded, recognizing some of the scenery from her vision. “There’s the broken tree limb,” I said.

  “And the birdhouse.” Ronnie pointed. “What were all those boxes? Beehives?”

  “Nope,” I said. “They’re winter boxes. Some people with outside cats or who take care of ferals use them so the cats don’t freeze.”

  “That’s nice.”

  “It is,” I agreed.

  “So,” my sister asked, “you know where to go?”

  “Yep. I got it,” I said.

  I hopped out of Bluebell, glad I’d decided to wear my heavy red coat on such a bitterly cold night, and walked to the second house on the street.

  The mailbox was decorated with dozens of paw prints. I’d seen it from Bluebell, which was how I knew we were in the right place.

  Stopping at the gate, I focused on locating Cornelius. I found him quickly, but not where I’d expected. I thought he would be curled up in one of the insulated boxes in the backyard, but the clever little capuchin was snuggled up on a cat tree, inside.

  This ought to be interesting.

  The sign on the front door read: CAUTION, CRAZY CAT LADY CROSSING.

  Well, at least I could talk to her. Some people might not know this, but not only am I fluent in whale; I also speak crazy cat lady.

  I knocked on the door.

  A woman in her forties answered a minute later.

  “Hey there. I’m so sorry to bother you. I was hoping to ask you about your winter boxes.”

  “You’re not with the homeowners’ association, are you?”

  “No, ma’am.”

  “Good. Those idiots with their Fleur-De-Lis la-di-da think they have the right to tell me how to take care of my pets. You know what I say?”

  I didn’t.

  “They can stick it, that’s what. What did you want to know?”

  I took a card out of my pocket and handed it to her. “My name is Grace Wilde and I’m an animal behaviorist. I’m working on redesigning the boxes we currently use at the Humane Society.”

  “Well, come on in. I’m Pat.” She squinted at the card, then handed it back to me. “You might as well keep it. I can’t see a thing without my glasses. I lost them a couple of weeks ago.”

  “Oh?” I said as we walked into her living room.

  “Yep, blind as a bat.”

  “You don’t say.” I slid my gaze over to the cat tree and the animal perched there.

  Hello, Cornelius. Remember me?

  Grapes?

  He remembered me.

  “Yesterday, I almost took a sip out of a bottle of dish soap,” Pat said. “My new glasses should be here in the next few days if you want to come back. I can show you how I built the winter boxes.”

  “Actually, Pat, I found what I was looking for.”

  •••

  Cornelius had been happy to come with me—he was getting tired of eating cat food.

  Pat had been stunned to learn she had been harb
oring a fugitive and was grateful I could take the little monkey off her hands.

  With Cornelius perched on my shoulder, I climbed back into Bluebell. Hugh turned around in his seat to face me. “I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating. You’re good.”

  “I am. And I promised him a bunch of grapes. We’ll be good for a while.”

  Cornelius crawled around my neck to sit on the shoulder closest to Ronnie. She smiled and cooed at him.

  “Did you ask him where we’re going?” Kai asked.

  “Not yet. I wanted to get him in the car first. That way, if he freaks out we won’t lose him.”

  Ronnie eased away from the small monkey. “Is there a chance he might freak out?”

  “He’s been experimented on by a mad scientist,” I said. “What do you think?”

  She blanched, eyes going wide.

  “I’ll try to keep him calm, though. Give me a second.”

  I needed to come up with the least traumatic way possible to learn what I needed to know.

  I thought about the little troop of capuchin monkeys I’d seen at the zoo and wondered if, when Cornelius had escaped from wherever he’d lived before this, he’d left any friends behind.

  With the concept of family and friendship firmly in my mind I asked, Where are your friends, Cornelius?

  The answer wasn’t helpful. Cages. Darkness. Pitiful cries of pain. And the pressing weight of sadness.

  Okay, I can help them.

  Help?

  Yes, I want to help. I patted the monkey on the flank to reassure him. Can you tell me where they are?

  I should’ve known what was coming but I’m telepathic—I can’t see into the future like Cornelius.

  The world flickered and sputtered. An image formed, dancing between light and blackness. Suddenly, I could make sense of what I was looking at. The five of us, Emma, Hugh, Ronnie, Kai, and me, along with Moss, stood in front of a chain-link fence, facing an open gate. The colors were faded into sepia tones. Except my red coat—it stood out like a drop of blood.

  I still didn’t know where we were.

  Where, Cornelius? Show me your friends.

  That was the wrong thing to ask for.

  The image strobed out in a flash, and I was treated to a series of scenes featuring Anya, being indiscriminately cruel to the monkeys.

  I squeezed my eyes shut. I couldn’t get overwhelmed.