“It’s my job to know fire.”
“Oh?”
“I’m a firefighter at home.” That explained a lot.
He began building the fire with small branches she’d brought and others lying nearby. He produced a metal grate, setting it over the fire. Out of his ice chest he pulled little baggies of precut vegetables and a jar of meat that he dumped in a pot of water. The meat was the right color and consistency to be squirrel.
Becky Sue settled into a fold out chair content to watch Phoenix cook.
A cricket crawled up her leg. She flicked it off. Was that muttered cursing?
“Everything alright? Need any help?”
“I’m good. Just waiting for it to boil before I put the lid on it.” He grinned back at her. Why did she think he was muttering under his breath?
Another cricket, or maybe the same one, crawled back up her leg. What the heck? Was this place infested with crickets? She was about to flick it off again when the fire flickered and a glint of blue flashed from the cricket. Getting the cricket in her hand, she held it up to look at it better in the poor light. Blue eyes flashed at her.
“Ray?” She whispered, hoping Phoenix wouldn’t hear. The cricket winked. She glared at it. “I’m going to kill you. So help me.” She was furious. Ray was spying on her. He was in her hand, she reared back to throw him not caring if he got hurt, when Phoenix turned to her.
She made like she was stretching, yawned, dropped Ray to the ground, and debated stomping on him.
“Tired already?” Phoenix asked.
“No. Just feeling lazy.”
“Too lazy to tell me stories?” He pulled another fold out chair next to her and sat.
“Nah. I can tell stories in my sleep.”
“Good. I want to hear some stories.”
“Alright. Have you heard about how the Sparks helped the South in the Civil War?” He shook his head no. The whites of his eyes gleamed bright against his dark pupils and face. He was dark and mysterious. She wanted to know more about him. Was he married? Did he have a girlfriend back home? Was he interested in more than just her stories?
“As you probably know Arkansas was highly divided in loyalties to both sides of the war. However, most of the Sparkers sided with the South. They felt their land was being invaded. So just like many young men of the day, they signed up and went off to war. You won’t find their stories in any of the history books because many times once their commanders found out their special powers they were sent in as spies. No records exist. How many battles can you think of where the North should’ve won because of sheer numbers and force, yet the Confederates routed them?”
“A few.”
“Why do you think that happened? The Sparkers. There were quite a few in the day. When a commander would find out there was more than one Spark in his command, oftentimes he would split them up and send some to companies and commanders around the state, or send them to the hotter spots of the war. The Battle of the Wilderness, it’s rumored that Longstreet had a Sparker in his command there. Legend has it that the Spark shifted to an Eagle and rained fire balls down on Hancock, adding to the smoke and chaos. Unfortunately, it backfired when Longstreet was wounded by one of his own men.”
“That sucks.” Phoenix was leaned over toward her in his chair, hanging on every word.
“Yeah. Not all the stories have happy endings. Sometimes the magic backfired. Sometimes a Sparker would lose it and go out of control, burning things or fighting in certain animal forms until it was killed.”
“Do you know any stories about the Quell?”
She sat back in her chair to think. Their arms touched. There was no shooting sparks or rushing of heat transferring bodies like there had been with Ray. There was only a giddy school girl sense about it, like sneaking out of the house at night. Looking down she noticed a cricket on her shoe. Ray. Kicking him off would attract attention. She had to pretend he wasn’t there.
“I think there’s only one story about the Quell that I can think of and it dates back to the Civil War too.”
“Tell me.” He was like an eager child ready to devour anything he was told.
“Like I was saying, Arkansas was highly divided. Now most the mountain folks knew the Sparkers were sided with the South, but the Quell had sided with the North. There’s a story, that I think has almost been forgotten for lack of retelling, that another spy, a Quell, worked for the North. She was a beautiful woman, with deep brown eyes, a perfect figure and thick, dark hair. She lost her husband early in the war. One of the first casualties. Soon after, she disappeared. The next anyone heard of her one of the boys back on leave said he’d seen her when they were near a Union camp. After the war, some of the remaining Sparkers had lost their powers. They blamed it on the hardships of war, but some secretly believed it was because this beautiful Quell had come and taken their powers from them. They just wouldn’t admit it to their families.”
“What happened to the woman?”
“She never returned.”
“You’re a really good story teller.” Phoenix’s hand covered hers. Maybe he really was interested in more than just her stories. His brown eyes gazed into her soul. She caught her breath, hoping he wouldn’t see to the magic she held deep inside. While she wanted to touch him and let him hold her and whisper sweet nothings in her ear, she didn’t want it be known that she was a Spark. A legend in her own rite.
Cricket.
Ray the cricket was climbing up her leg again. She feigned nonchalance and pretended not to see him, choosing instead to stare into the flame of the fire. The smell of the stew wafted to her, tantalizing her senses.
Cricket.
She was going to kill him. Would it be bad form to throw him on the ground and stomp him right then and there? Would it hurt her powers or bring bad juju to her?
“You know what else interests me?” Phoenix asked stroking her hand with his thumb. She turned to him. “You.”
Cricket.
“Me?” Opening her mouth to ask why, she thought better of it, and snapped it shut.
“I don’t get it. How’s a girl like you still unmarried?”
Cricket.
She should be getting lost in those dark brown soulful eyes, but instead she was distracted knowing Ray was in her lap staring her down. “I’m going with the shortage of men around here.”
Cricket. Cricket. Cricket.
Now Ray was laughing at her.
Phoenix smiled. “That explains it partially, but what about the tourists that comes through? Don’t you ever meet any of them?”
“Every once in a while I’ll meet an interesting one. But they always return home. No one wants to stay and right now I’m stuck here. My mom is disabled and I’m the only one to care for her.”
“Couldn’t you take her with you?”
Becky Sue thought of all the reasons that wouldn’t work. It would be a short in coming catastrophe. And putting her mom in a home was out of the question.
Cricket.
“No. It’s complicated.” Refusing to look down at Ray, she kept her focus on Phoenix. She should be leaning into him letting him kiss her by now, but she couldn’t. Not with Ray watching. Instead she found herself acting aloof and only passively interested.
“For living in such a small town in the middle of nowhere, you sure seem to have a complicated life. I thought it was supposed to be simple out here?”
“You have no idea.”
Cricket. Cricket.
Reaching her free hand down, she tried to cover Ray so he couldn’t watch her. He jumped out of reach. Phoenix felt her shifting.
“Are you getting cold?”
“No, just hungry.” Her stomach rumbled in affirmation.
He grinned. “Let me see what I can do.”
Phoenix poked in the pot at the stew. Becky Sue looked for Ray as soon as Phoenix’s back was turned, but Ray was nowhere to be seen. Shit. She knew he was somewhere nearby. She could feel him.
“I don�
�t like this guy. There’s something off about him.” Ray’s voice was whispered in her ear. Glancing to her right, there he was, perched on her shoulder.
She rolled her eyes and shook her head, afraid of getting caught whispering back.
“I’m going to look around. I have no doubt you’ll keep him busy while I do.” His voice held a slight bite. Was he jealous?
**
Ray jumped out of reach before Becky Sue could stop him. He couldn’t believe she was being so dense. Bounding down to the cold rock floor of the cave, he made it to the mysterious sheets hanging against the wall. Who camped in a cave anyway? How did an outsider know of its existence? That was the question that really bothered him. The cave wasn’t something most tourists would notice. It was tucked up a good twenty feet or so from the water, the opening small and partially hidden by small trees and brush growing out of the rocks. He either had an inside person who knew the area well, or he’d made more than one trip through this town, mostly likely several.
On little cricket feet, he wiggled under the curtain. At first glance it looked ordinary enough. What was with all the secrecy? He needed a higher vantage point. The only problem with being a cricket was he was too small. The view of the world from a half an inch, at best, was skewed. He tried to hop onto a canvas bag lying nearby. He was too little, not enough bounce.
He spied a cast off rock. That he could manage, but it still didn’t bring him high enough to get the full picture. Frustrated as he was, he was unwilling to give up. He was tempted to shift into something larger, but he couldn’t risk it. Phoenix knew. He didn’t know how he knew, but he knew. Phoenix nailed him as a squirrel. He wouldn’t be surprised if Phoenix didn’t know he was here now. They were in a dance of playing knowing-not knowing. It was… eerie to say the least after just finding out about his powers himself a few days ago.
Ray bounced and climbed around slowly making his way upward to a good view. Who knew he could use zippers and strings as leverage? Being able to shape shift gave him slight illusions of invincibility. He might’ve caved into the notion had he not seen too much.
**
Where did he go? She thought she wanted him gone, but not being able to see him was more distracting than having him there under foot.
“It’s almost done. If we let it simmer a few more minutes it should be good.” Phoenix resumed his seat beside her. “So tell me. What’s this with you and Ray?”
Hearing his name come out of Phoenix’s mouth sent a shiver through her that had nothing to do with the damp air despite the fire’s valiant attempt to warm the inside of the cave. It was just a prick of conscience knowing that Ray was here, listening somewhere. Becky Sue waved the question off. “We’ve been friends since forever. We grew up as close as siblings, maybe closer. Once upon a time we almost became romantically involved, but nothing ever came of it.” It was possible she was trying to convince herself of this more than him. “Now that he’s back the whole town thinks we should get involved.”
“What do you think you should do?” The way his dark eyes pierced her soul the more she wasn’t sure what to say, so she went with what she wanted to believe.
**
Ray reached a peak of decent surveillance. He took in the camping gear. It seemed a little excessive, especially since a tent was unnecessary. The sheer number of random canvas sacks, baskets and other similar things were out of place. Maybe he’d sent his friends out for the night and there were more actually camped here.
No. There was only one sleeping bag laid out and no space for others.
He’d kept his ears tuned to Becky Sue’s conversation and when he heard Phoenix pin her with the question about them, he paused, no longer seeing what was around him.
“It’s not happening. He’ll find a job soon enough and be gone again. I have to stay here and take care of my mom.” At least she remembered to keep his cover. Was that really how she felt or was she just trying to impress this douche?
“And long distance relationships or moving isn’t in the picture then, huh?” Phoenix asked her.
“Nope.”
Ray jumped from his perch, landing hard on the rocky ground. He was pissed as hell. How could she not think that they had something special between them? Her body had hummed for him and his for hers for fucks sake! What did she think this was? Some kind of throw away fling?
He’d always been the one to walk away from any relationship. He didn’t like being on this end, especially with Becky Sue. Apparently their years of friendship meant nothing either.
He stormed from the cave on his six tiny legs not waiting around to hear any more. As soon as he was around the corner out of sight he shifted into a bird and flew out.
**
“That doesn’t sound as complicated as you made it sound earlier.”
It was true. Earlier she hadn’t figured out what she wanted, or rather needed to do. But this was it. She had to give Ray one final push and put some distance back between them. Where was he anyway?
“I guess I should’ve said this town makes it complicated. We may not have a large population but it’s full of nothing but matchmakers and folks stuck in a civilization that existed a hundred years ago where the only real happiness for a woman is marriage and babies.”
“I take it you don’t buy into all that?”
“At one time I figured I’d get married and have kids. Now that I’m pushing thirty I’m not sure that’s still on the table, but I’m in no rush to rectify a change either.”
Phoenix let out a deep hearty laugh. “You think thirty is official old maid status? Spinster even?”
“Around here it might as well be certifiable.” She shrugged. She knew she was naïve in the ways of the real world, but she hardly considered it laughable. It rankled a little, no matter how much his teeth shown white or his brown eyes smiled at her.
He patted her leg. “Outside of these mountains the average age for marriage is early thirties. So you still have hope for a few years.” His tone was bordering condescension.
Where was Ray? Was he hearing all this? It made her uneasy thinking about the fact that Ray was probably listening to every word. Even though she trusted him and he probably knew her better than anyone else, there were just some things she’d just as soon not bring to the table, especially now. At least he wouldn’t laugh at her backward views like Phoenix. It wasn’t like she hadn’t been out of the mountains before. She’d seen a little bit of life in the “outside” world, but this was the world she’d made and chose to live in, so she set herself mostly to those standards.
Suddenly she had no desire to hang around any longer than she had to. After they ate, she was going to ask Phoenix to take her back.
“Is the food ready yet? I’m starving.” Although she wasn’t sure she could stomach squirrel stew, she desperately needed a change of conversation. And food.
“It should be.” He checked the stew before producing two paper bowls.
They ate in relative silence. Becky Sue was in no hurry to resume the conversation and was half afraid to start any, not knowing where it would go. Phoenix was perceptive and strange. He was also hot which made awkward conversations that much worse.
“That was good.” Becky Sue lied after she’d chewed her last bite and tossed her bowl into the fire. The stew had turned her stomach queasy and the taste had been as vile as death.
“Glad you liked it. Not everyone likes squirrel.” His dark eyes flashed something dark and menacing lurked just under the surface. She attributed his counter appeal to her roiling stomach.
“Well, I’m a girl of the mountains, and what you kill you eat and you don’t eat if you don’t kill. It can be vicious cycle.” She was half joking. The days of hunting/harvesting food for self consumption was past with the invention of supermarkets and commercial farms, but folks of the mountains still had a tendency to hold to old standards of living. “However, I hate to ask you, but would it be possible for you to take me back now? I have to be up early
to take care of my mom.”
“Do you have to go so soon? I thought we’re getting along so well?” Phoenix leaned towards her, reached out a hand and brushed a stray strand of hair from her face. Chills raced down her spine. Cold chills. His brown eyes pinned her. Her heart should be all aflutter and giddy at the look in his eye and the tip of his head. He was going to kiss her. But it wasn’t.
She watched in an out of body experience kind of way as his lips met hers but as soon as they did she was back to herself, all the air from her lungs evaporated. She pulled away and gasped for air. She would’ve liked to think that he took her breath away like that, but that wasn’t it. It felt… wrong. Like the claw of death had reached into her lungs and pulled the air out.
“Are you alright? Is anything wrong?” He asked.
“You took my breath away.” She didn’t want to elaborate that it was in a bad way. He smiled a lazy, cocky smile. “Oh really? Do tell me more.” He reached his hand around her head and pulled her back to him for another kiss. Any woman in her right mind would be crazy to resist a man like Phoenix.
As soon as their lips met again, the air in her lungs evaporated. Holy hell she couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t do this. She pulled back. Phoenix gave her a lopsided grin. Damn.
Why was it all of a sudden the men she kissed were giving her such wild, strong reactions? Ray with his humming and sparks. Now this. What was going on!
“If you insist, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to take you back now,” he conceded sounding resigned. It must’ve been apparent that she wasn’t putting out tonight so he was giving up trying, for now. It wasn’t like she’d never had a fling before. Hell, that’s practically all she’d ever had, but there was something she just couldn’t name that had her waiting at the mouth of the cave for Phoenix to catch up.
This time Phoenix brought the battery operated lantern along, and tied it on the prow of the canoe for a light.
They floated down river, the lantern casting strange shadows on each side. Someone with a good imagination could easily envision demons, dragons, and all sorts of scary creatures from the bobbing light. They talked little as anything either said would be thrown into the air and whipped away by the current. Becky Sue counted it as a relief that she didn’t have to try. Her thoughts were too preoccupied with Ray. He hadn’t shown in some time. Now since she left early it should give him time to search Phoenix’s cave.
Legend Of The Sparks Page 13
