The Harry Ferguson Chronicles Box Set

by William David Ellis

  She had followed the strongest of the scents like a wolf after elusive prey. She trailed it right up to the door of one of the ancient churches of the city. Sniffing the breeze like a hound seeking a fox only to discover a skunk, she declined to pursue it further. She stood across the street from the front door of the cathedral, puzzled. Shaking her head in an effort to clear it, she proceeded down the street to the headquarters of the Gestapo EL-DE Haus. Officially, it was a documentation center for Nazi administrative purposes. Unofficially, it was an interrogation and experimentation center. There were hundreds of prison cells carved underground. Tunnels connected to the main city sewer and then out to the countryside. It was in that building that Belle had been ordered to meet with Dr. Alice Oberheust.

  Belle was surprised to see how young Dr. Oberheust was. Alice Oberheust was tall with blond hair straight from a bottle that she had braided into pigtails. She wore bright red lipstick and large dark wing-tipped glasses. She had a figure that women loved to hate and the Nazis used as a standard of female perfection. As Belle entered the physician’s office, the beautiful woman rose to meet her, a charming smile lighting her face. “Good morning, Fraulein Rodum. It is a pleasure to finally meet you. I have heard good things about your work.”

  Belle’s discernment worked like a scathing radar processing every movement, every tone, every inflection. Her eyebrow shifted slightly. “You are too kind, Dr. Oberheust. It is an honor to meet you as well. Your experiments and scientific breakthroughs have gone a long way in protecting our soldiers. I have read some of your papers and am most impressed.”

  The blue-eyed young woman smiled and bowed slightly. “Thank you. But may I ask which paper you are referring to?”

  “Certainly. I was specifically thinking of your work on cell regeneration. Your paper on injecting sodium ions into an injury.”

  “Now I am the one impressed. A lot of people have tried to gain my favor by telling me they have read my work, but you are the first to be able to cite the work you read. Thank you for that. But now I am informed that another avenue of my research has caught the attention of the powers that be, and apparently you and I are going to be pursuing that research together.”

  Belle was not aware of any research requirement. Göring had not bothered to share that information with her. “What research is that, Dr. Oberheust?”

  “I actually did a little more experimenting into the process of the paper you read. Specifically, bioelectricity. The basic idea is simple really. Our bodies project and incorporate electrical fields. Most people know those electrical fields are created when our cells process the energy of the foods we eat, and to a great deal that is true. However, that is just one aspect; there are other means of recharging and the one that has fascinated me the most is the primordial field. The most ancient and powerful of all our electrical and magnetic fields. I believe it empowers or is empowered by our very essence, our soul, if you will.”

  Oberheust unconsciously reached for the jewelry hanging from her neck, briefly clutching it as she continued. Belle was about to comment when she noticed it was an inverted cross but decided to leave that conversation for another time.

  “My studies of people and entities like yourself with paranormal abilities have led me to believe that engaging outside sources of that same energy would greatly enhance the human body.”

  Belle’s eyes narrowed in confusion. Oberheust caught the look and responded, “Recharge our bodies like a full battery generator can energize a smaller battery, only with greater power. Doubling or even tripling the output and capacity of the person enhanced.”

  Belle’s inner alarms blared, her face paled as she bit her lip to keep from gasping. Dr. Oberheust’s eyes brightened as she warmed to her subject, they were crazed, unblinking, fanatical. Belle was not surprised with Dr. Oberheust’s answer to her unspoken question.

  “And what is the source of this outside energy, hmm? The ancients, they knew it. They did not understand why it worked but they knew it was powerful.” Oberheust continued.

  Belle’s mouth flew open and before she could catch herself, Oberheust saw it and nodded.

  “Yes, Belle. You guessed it! We are going to call up one of the greatest sources of that primordial energy and use it to regenerate and empower our soldiers. The project has been code-named Strongman for reasons that will soon be apparent. We are going to invoke one of the ancient ones.” Dr. Oberheust’s voice lowered as if she knew that some dark creatures should not be toyed with. “We are going to call on the… nameless one.”

  A chill seemed to settle into the room. Belle felt a dark cloud move overhead and was tempted to look up.

  Even knowing what the doctor was going to say, Belle still lost her breath. To even say the name was dangerous. To think you could harness one of the darkest, most evil of all the fallen, one had to be born with a mind crippled by insanity and fueled by the deepest evil. Belle shivered at the bright smile and wide, crazy eyes of Dr. Oberheust.

  Belle drew back behind her emotional shields. On the outside, she was calm, smiling, nodding. On the inside she was screaming and scratching at the dark claws that held her heart in a vise grip of terror. She had no aversion to killing evil people or even stupid people with wicked intent. She was a soldier; she was a witch for God’s sake. But this? This Strongman project was insane! The nameless one—she shuddered at even thinking the name for fear the demon queen might hear it and respond, so shifted to the project name, Strongman. She allowed her thoughts to creep forward. What am I going to do? Harry is going to blunder right into this… and it’s going to be my fault.

  She kept nodding and smiling while Dr. Oberheust continued, covering her mouth and giggling like a silly little schoolgirl whenever she got to the darkest parts of the project plan.

  “And, of course, there has to be a sacrifice, to prime the pump, so to speak. A sacrifice that is powerful enough to ring the dinner bell for the ancient one. And that,

  Fraulein Rodum, is where you come in. Your part in this magnificent Strongman invocation is to lure Harry Ferguson. My part is to see he suffers for as long as is humanly or, in his case, dragon rider possible. It is going to be so sweet, so intense.” Oberheust clapped like an excited child at Christmas. Belle was close to vomiting. “You see, Belle. The sacrifice has to be willing. Suffering creates the desire to end it, so he then becomes willing.”

  Belle hid her nausea as Dr. Oberheust quivered in tender pleasure at the thought of the dragon rider’s suffering.

  Chapter 3

  Lizzy listened to the wooden steps creak as she stepped on them, ascending the large front porch of the beautiful Victorian home that hosted the Moab Texas Library. She stopped at the grand oak double doors and looked around before she stuck the old key in the antique lock. Gathering her thoughts, she reviewed the events of the last few months, involuntarily shaking her head. She was the librarian and the teacher of a dozen little kindergarten and first-grade munchkins. She loved her kids and they loved her.

  Together they had survived an evil dragon, kidnappings, fire, and catastrophe, not to mention being shot at and blown up. And in the process, they were discovering they were all marked and changed. Many of the children had learned they were dragon people. And Lizzy had discovered she was the daughter of a hero. A dragon rider, a man who had loved her since she was tiny, who had burped her as an infant and taught her how to roller-skate as a child. A man she thought she knew but was finding out had secrets. Huge secrets, the largest of which he hadn’t exactly hidden from her. It had, in fact, shocked him to discover it himself: She was not only his adopted daughter, a baby who had been left on his doorstep, but also his biological daughter. And the next part was even more difficult to believe. Her biological mother was a witch!

  Dragons and witches and eagles had come out of nowhere to rescue her and then just as suddenly disappeared. It was all real and only God knew what else was coming. Lizzy shuddered. A chill she couldn’t shake seemed to have locked on to her hear
t. Finally, it lifted. She looked toward the east at the gorgeous Texas sunrise. The fall leaves were just turning… A lot was changing and a lot had yet to change.

  She walked into the musty room. It was stuffed with old books. People who lived in Moab still came to borrow them. Her story time kids wouldn’t have it any other way. They had their computers and their games, but here they had something else. Here in her library they had each other and their memories and didn’t have to pretend they weren’t little dragon shifters. Here they were safe. Or at least as much as they could be. Lizzy took a long slow breath and vowed, ‘and they will be safe as long as there is breath within me.

  Then laughed out loud at her melodrama, wondering who protected whom. Some of her kids were developing gifts that were formidable, dangerous even. She could swat their little butts and had earned that right many times over, and they would bare fangs and throw flame at anyone who said different. But they were still dragons. Or at least in the process of becoming such. She walked to the window and drew back the curtain. Moab was waking up. It was a strange little town… and her tiny piece of it was a kingdom, her kingdom. Guarded by her love for her kids, and her own developing witchy powers.

  The door opened, pushing her through her morning fog. The first of her little rug rats had arrived and spotted her standing next to the library checkout. He took a running leap and soared. Time seemed to slow down. It actually did slow down as he dawdled through the air, smiling a huge snaggle-toothed smile, arms wide open, and targeting her as his landing pad. She dropped her purse, opened her arms, and caught him.

  “I should have let you land on your head, you little knuckle-walker! You could have misjudged your leap and we would have both landed on the floor! The next time—”

  “Oh, Miss Lizzy, I am not a knuckle-walker! That’s Bradley! He is new in town and his mom and dad know all about Mr. Hank. Bradley’s grandpa knows Mr. Hank, and he knows all about Sarah and…”

  “What! Really, Easton? Bradley is a Sasquatch?!” Lizzy slid down into the rocker she told stories from. She should be used to the bizarre by now, but things still had a way of surprising her. “Oh, how I would love to talk to Bradley’s grandpa. This could be very, very good!”

  “Well, I told Bradley all about story time and he can’t wait to come. He and I are buddies. They moved into town last week, and I have been over at their house every day and a couple of nights too. My mom told his mom just to run me off when she had enough of me. So, I asked Bradley over to our house, and he has been over three days and slept over one. His mom and my mom are getting to be good friends too, and his mom told my mom that if Bradley even looks like he is going to growl that she should slap him naked and stick him in a posthole! That’s terrible, Miss Lizzy. Why would she tell her that? So, you know what? Me and Bradley decided we are going to build a treehouse so that if our moms get tired of us, we can just sleep up there and…”

  Lizzy dropped Easton to the floor and put both hands over her ears. Easton didn’t get the point, so she hollered, “Hold on! Easton, your lips are moving faster than my ears can hear. Talk slower and enunciate your words.”

  Easton frowned and tilted his head. Then his eyes lit, and he put both hands over his mouth and slowly enunciated his words. “Well as I was saying, Bradley and I are going to build a treehouse and—”

  Lizzy heard footsteps and saw two figures on the front porch. A woman and a boy. As she moved toward the door, she looked at Easton and whispered, “Easton, hush! I think Bradley and his mom are walking up the porch.”

  The door opened before she could reach it, and in walked a tall, elegant olive-skinned woman. She could have passed for an Egyptian queen from the ancient past with her wide cheekbones, round face, and gorgeous brown eyes. Her hair and eyebrows were dark and full.

  Lizzy was a little startled, not knowing what to expect from a Sasquatch woman, but then thought, I shouldn’t be surprised, considering everything else that has happened in this town this last year, if she isn’t Nefertiti herself.

  The moment the woman saw Lizzy, she flashed a brilliant smile and said, “You must be Lizzy Ferguson. My name is Shani Huslu and this is my son, Bradley.”

  Bradley was a head taller than most kids his age and two-thirds as tall as his mother. He was not fat but had definitely not missed any meals. He extended his hand to shake Lizzy’s outstretched one when Easton shouted, “Hey, Bradley!”

  Easton grabbed his hand and pulled him away. “Come on! I have so much to show you. This is where the battle took place last year!” As Easton and Bradley ran toward the library kitchen, their voices grew dimmer but Lizzy still heard Easton’s voice saying, “And then she turned into a dragon and they fought.”

  “Sorry about that, Mrs. Huslu. Easton is a little rambunctious.”

  Shani Huslu laughed. “So, we have noticed. He and Bradley have been inseparable since Easton knocked on the front door and invited him to play. If he hasn’t been at our house, Bradley has been at his. Bradley’s father and I are delighted that he has found a playmate so quickly. We have also met Easton’s mother and father and had a wonderful time with them. We are excited to be in Moab, Miss Ferguson.”

  Lizzy beamed. “And from what I hear, we are extremely glad you are here, Mrs. Huslu. Would you like a cup of coffee or something to drink? I think there are some muffins left over from yesterday in the refrigerator. On second thought let me retract that. There were some muffins left over. How long has Easton been in the kitchen?” Lizzy frowned at her watch, shook her head, and looked back at Shani. “It’s been two minutes. I’m sure the muffins are gone. But hey, we still have some coffee?”

  Shani’s warm eyes glowed. “Miss Ferguson, any other day I would be delighted. We would push those boys out of the way and make them share those muffins with us. But I don’t have much time this morning. However, I do have something to say. I have been given a message by my father-in-law, who lives with us.”

  Lizzy’s eyes grew wide. “Your father-in-law, Brady Huslu?”

  Shani smiled. “So, you’ve heard already?”

  “No, not really heard anything. I had no idea your family had moved to Moab until this morning when our favorite little motormouth came running in. But I have my father’s diaries and your father-in-law played a prominent part in my father’s life, and I would love to speak with him!”

  “And he with you, Miss Ferguson.”

  “Call me Lizzy, please, Mrs. Huslu.”

  “And please call me Shani, Lizzy.”

  “I will be happy to, Shani. My dad used to say if you talk to someone long enough in Texas you will discover you both know some of the same people, and if you keep talking to them you will probably wind up kin!”

  “I have actually heard those same words from my father-in-law! Now I wonder who taught them to who?”

  The women laughed and then Shani spoke. “About that message. My father-in-law was very insistent that he meet with you as soon as you can. He was quite willing to come here, or if you would like, you are more than welcome to have dinner with us.”

  “Oh, that would be great! I would love to meet your husband and your father-in-law! And to be honest, from my father’s description of Brady I am a little surprised he would think he could meet here at the library.”

  Shani’s brow furrowed with curiosity. “Why is that?”

  Lizzy didn’t know if she had committed a faux pas, or as her dad would say in his East Texas manner, stepped in it and trucked it all over the house. She paused for an awkward moment and then said, “Well, I mean your dad-in-law is eight feet tall and a full-blooded male of the First River people, right? I mean, I don’t think he could get through the door, and if he did, I don’t know where he would sit.” Lizzy’s face would have glowed red under ultraviolet.

  Shani rolled her eyes, a rebellious grin bursting across her face. “You do know we can shift, right? Just like your little dragons. A Sasquatch is by nature a shifter. How do you think my people remained hidden for centuries l
iving among your civilization?” She snickered at Lizzy’s discomfort. “Come on, girl. It’s fine… no harm done because no harm was intended. From what Easton’s family has told me, you are discovering you have some unique traits as well. So, come to dinner with us. You will fit right in, and it would probably please my father-in-law immensely to manifest in his natural Sasquatch form. I will even make him wear clothes.”

  Lizzy snorted at Shani’s last remark. Her bright smile eased Lizzy’s heart. Then Shani leaned over and hugged her and said, “We are with you, Lizzy Ferguson. Your people and mine have been family for almost a hundred years, and it’s high time you joined the circle.”

  Chapter 4

  December 16, 1938

  Harry wondered just how many miles of underground hallway had been carved out beneath London. The tunnel he walked down was lit by yellow frosted light bulbs spaced every thirty feet. Their pallid light seemed to be absorbed by the ancient halls and did nothing to push aside the gloom that shadowed his heart. Whoever had built the tunnels had not bothered with amenities. The walls were covered with cobblestone, and algae grew across some of the brick similar to what grew on headstones in old cemeteries. Was that an omen? At the very least it was an appropriate feature considering the fate of most of the men and women who trod these underground walkways.