When George Carter returned home, his wife greeted him. She had heard the truck pull up and rushed to the door to kiss her husband, grateful he had made it back safely.
“Are you all right?” she asked. “Did anybody get hurt out there?”
“No, Kay, everyone is fine, including me.” He kissed his wife and walked into the house. He took off his camouflage jacket and hat, and stowed his rifle. He saw Allie on the floor putting away the board game. “Hey, Cat, did you win?”
Allie smiled and got up to hug her father. “I always win; I should have been born into a wealthy family.” She hugged him and sat next to him on the couch. “Did you find anything?”
“No. We made two sweeps of the woods and came up empty. If anything else was out there, they’re long gone now.”
Kay sat down in the chair across from them. “You didn’t find anything at all? Nothing to support the rumors in town?”
“No, honey, we didn’t find a single piece of evidence to confirm the stories about the boy. Oh, Cat, the mayor said he was on his way to Superintendent Brown to let him know it is okay to resume classes. You got your wish; school is in session tomorrow.”
Allie tried to hide her joy at hearing the good news. She remained calm and simply said, “I’m glad nobody got hurt out there with all those guns being waved around.”
She kissed both her parents goodnight and went upstairs to get a jump on tomorrow’s activities. As she climbed the stairs, she considered everything she would need to prepare. Allie looked at her clothes and took out her earrings. She traced the crest with her finger and wondered why it was so powerful. She had asked them many questions but she could not understand why she had not asked this particular one. She put the earrings back into the box and put the box on top of her dresser so she would have them for tomorrow. Allie wore her necklace and never took it off, not even when she showered, which she was about to do. She grabbed her towel and went toward the bathroom door – then stopped, an odd expression on her face. Allie put the towel down and went out of her room, stopping midway down the stairs to prepare her defense. After talking to herself for a minute, she was ready.
In the living room, Allie’s parents sat side by side. Slowly, looking confused, she walked in.
Her mother asked, “Something on your mind, Kitten?”
“Yeah, Mom, I... I... I don’t know how to ask this but...”
Kay looked at her daughter sharply with critical eyes. Perhaps the look might warn her off – but there was no deterring Allie.
“Can I go back to work and can I have my phone back?” She got the words out quickly then breathed rapidly, waiting for a response.
George said nothing as usual. Kay sized her up. Allie would fight for this; she knew it. Giving up to save time, she told her, “You can work, but if something else happens you are done. Get the phone out of my purse and go to bed.”
“Thank you, Mom,” Allie said quickly, and hugged her and ran upstairs. She grabbed her towel and went in to take a shower. She would wait until morning to retrieve her phone.
The next morning Allie was up before her parents. She dressed and went downstairs to have her morning cereal. When done, she saw her mother’s purse on the living room table and went to get her phone. Allie sat on the couch and went through her phone contacts. She did not have the phone numbers of any of the important people of Caveena and it troubled her. Those would be the numbers she would need the most and she had none of them. Was she not supposed to have them? Her job would be easier if she did have them, so why didn’t she? She did not even have Sara’s number saved; she knew it by heart, but had not bothered putting it into the phone.
Entering her friend’s contact details, she smiled to herself. At work she would get all the other numbers she would need. Possibly Brad’s, if he had a phone. Did he?
Although it was early, she decided to try and phone Sara. After several rings, it went to voicemail. “Hey, Sara, it’s me, Allie. Just testing my phone. See you at school today, bye.”
Allie cleaned her area and grabbed her backpack to wait outside for the bus. From past experience, her parents would be sleeping in today, so she went outside and sat on a bench on the porch. There was an old rocker out there, and she often imagined herself in her nineties, sitting and rocking her life away in some small town she could not escape. Now she rocked with nothing but joy in her heart. This town is where she wanted to be. All her travels had led her here and here is where she would stay. She would become like the others, like Malcolm, a Gate Master. She would dedicate the remainder of her life to them and live with them forever.
Suddenly, taking Allie by surprise, her phone rang. “Hello?”
“Hey, girl.”
“Hey, you didn’t have to call me back. I was bored and started dialing numbers.”
“Drunk dialing at your age?” Sara said and laughed real hard.
“I guess; you know me.”
“I know you, all right. What is going on over there?”
“I am sitting outside on the porch waiting for the school bus to show up. ‘I love you. No, I love you. No, I love you. Oh! Oh! Oh!’” Allie mimicked.
“No, you didn’t!”
“They are repulsive. Hey! Did I wake you?”
Sara gave a hearty laugh.
“No, girl, I was up. I was in the shower and saw your message when I got out. I take it your folks were too busy to ground you like you thought?”
“They did, but now that school is back in session I get a second chance. My mom says if something else happens she will take my phone and make me quit working.”
“Well, with any luck nothing will happen. My mom is going to be taking us to the Day Care Center after school, so be ready.”
“All right, see you at lunch. Later.”
“Later.”
The bus arrived, so Allie climbed on board with a smile to Malcolm and took her usual seat in the middle of the bus.
Nothing exciting happened for the first half of the school day. At lunch she waited for Sara, who stood near a wall talking to several people. Allie watched the people she spoke with; one of them left and sat at the table with the Double E Club members. The last two were girls she had seen earlier with necklaces, meaning they were Cavers like her. She did not know any of them; nor had she spoken to them or seen them at Caveena. Allie became curious about them and made up her mind to ask Sara when she got the chance.
As she waited, not eating until her friend arrived, she remembered the other day and occasionally looked back at the table with Brad, Shelby, and the rest. Until she became a member of the Double E Club, she would never approach that table again. She still felt the sting of her finger as it hit the floor. Perhaps it was all in her mind, but to her the pain was real and the lesson learned.
Then, she felt heat. She focused and saw that it was Brad, he stared at her. Warmness flooded her. She forgot her earlier nonsense and being drawn to him, prepared to rise from her table and go to him.
“Hey, girl,” Sara greeted as she finally arrived.
She was snapped back to reality. Embarrassment flooded her and she hoped no one saw. She smiled brightly to cover.
“Hey.”
“Hey, yourself.”
Unsure if Sara had seen, she diverted. “What did you do yesterday since we had no school?”
“I worked. I spent the whole day with the two-year-olds. Bethany asked about you.”
“What did she ask?”
“Um, where you were and if you would be coming back.” Sara picked up her fork and began eating.
“And what did you tell her about me?” Allie said in a panic.
“Relax, girl, I didn’t say anything bad about you. I told her your folks were keeping you at home while the townspeople hunted around the forest for the boys. She asked if you were coming back; I said you had every intention of doing so.”
“Did she believe you? She is not going to replace me, is she?”
“No. You have natural talent for the job; they all say t
hat. That is why they wanted you in the first place. It is hard to teach somebody what you already know. True, you are wet behind the ears and a little on the crazy side, but you like what you do and are not afraid.”
“So, I’m not fired?” Allie breathed a sigh of relief.
“We are shorthanded right now. We may have to find someone in the eighth grade. There are too many children for us to handle and some of them are maturing at faster rates than the rest, which adds to the problems.”
“Is that why you were talking to the other Cavers?”
“Yeah. Bethany wants us to keep a look out for another you.” Sara grinned and pointed her fork at her friend. She took another bite of food then continued. “Ideally, we only handle two or three children each and not at the same time. But some unforeseen problems have altered the numbers, so we need to get them back in line.”
“If I see anyone with potential I will let you know.”
Sara smiled at her naïve friend. She could not possibly know the process for picking new recruits, but it was nice of her to offer to help. “Keep quiet, Allie. I know you are not planning on telling anybody about us but it could slip out. We have it all under control and will make a decision before too long.”
Suddenly, Sara looked up, a confused expression on her face. She stood quickly. “You have five minutes before the bell rings. I have to go somewhere. I will meet you out front after school.” And she left, her half-eaten tray left on the table.
Allie looked at the wall clock and took note of the time. Trusting that Sara was right, she ate quickly, and sure enough after five minutes the bell rang. “How does she do that?” she muttered to herself.
The room emptied. Allie was the last to leave and made her way to her next class.
Meanwhile, Sara walked out the back of the cafeteria near the table of the Double E Club members. She turned a corner. Mrs. Taylor stood waiting for her. “You called me?”
“Yes. Is Allie coming to work with you?”
“Yes, she is back with us. Her parents told her if nothing else happens she could work.”
“I heard all of that for myself,” Mrs. Taylor chastised the young girl. She was a little upset that Sara had forgotten how good her hearing was. “I mean is she all the way in or not? Changes will be coming soon and I need to know how many we can count on to continue our way of life. Will she be with us for the rest of her life? That is what I have you testing her for.” Mrs. Taylor’s eyes began to darken.
Sara lowered her head and felt her heart pounding when she saw the change in Mrs. Taylor’s eyes. She steadied herself and answered as directly as she could. “I have studied her well, Elder. She will be an asset. Her heart is with us and her skill is unmatched. She is the special one you have been looking for. Her home ties are weakening and we are growing stronger daily. She belongs to us and will be loyal to our cause.”
The bell rang. “Good. We will need two others.” With that, the two turned and went in opposite directions.
School finished, Allie waited for Sara, who was talking to the same group she had been at lunch. When she was done, she came and sat beside her friend on a bench in front of the school buses.
“Hey,” said Allie.
“Hey. You ready to go to work?”
“Always.” They shared a quick high-five; then Mrs. Johnson pulled up and they climbed into the car.
“Hey, Mrs. Johnson, how are you today?”
“Hey, Allison. I’m fine. How about yourself?”
“I’m fine. I am glad to be going back to work. Did you have a good time on your trip?”
“Thank you for asking. Somebody was raised right.” She shot a grin at Sara: her daughter was not a big fan of small talk. “We had an excellent vacation. Everyone had fun except this one here; she wanted to get back to her kids. I keep telling her family is important but it keeps falling on deaf ears,” Mrs. Johnson laughed as she drove them to the Barlon Day Care Center.
She stopped at the curb and wished them a good day before leaving for home. The girls went inside. Half a mile down the road, Mrs. Johnson realized she had forgotten something, so she swung the car around.
Sara and Allie went down the elevator to get their assignments for the day, then went to the nursery. They were holding their babies when Mrs. Johnson entered. “You two have baby duty today?”
“Yes,” said Allie.
“Why are you back? Is something wrong?”
“No, darling, I forgot to turn something in so I had to come back real quick and take care of it.” She looked at the two babies they were holding and went to Allie. “Oh, she is so lovely this evening, let me hold her for a second.”
“All right.” Allie handed the baby to the woman. She cooed over the baby and sat in a chair by her daughter for a minute.
Malcolm walked into the nursery and saw Sara and her mother holding the babies. He had been down the hall in the cafeteria when he smelled Mrs. Johnson’s perfume and got excited. “Well, if it isn’t the two lasses of my dreams. I knew you would both make good mothers.”
Mrs. Johnson giggled. “I’m already a mother, Malcolm, and you know it.”
“Why is it . . . No! Mrs. Johnson? Is that you all dolled up like a schoolgirl? I thought for sure that was young Sara’s friend Allie, or maybe a twin sister.” He winked at Allie and grinned real big at the other two.
Mrs. Johnson giggled again. “You stop it. You are so bad, Malcolm.”
Allie glanced at her friend. If she was a vampire, she was sure Sara’s eyes would be pitch black right now. Unsure of what to do or say, she held her tongue.
Mrs. Johnson stood with the baby and handed her back to Allie. “Well, I better be going. I have a ton of work waiting for me at home.”
“Don’t worry, Daddy is at home and he will help you get caught up,” said Sara emphatically, more to Malcolm than to her mother. The truth: Sara’s father was on a trip up north for a week and a half.
“Oh, you are so precious and helpful. I did a good thing when I pushed you out into this world,” Mrs. Johnson said, directing a plastic smile at her daughter before walking out.
Malcolm darted after her. “Wait, lass, I will be honored to walk you out.” Together they walked up the hall; giggling voices echoed behind them as they talked, before dimming to silence.
Sara was silent. Allie looked at her. She wanted to say something, but had no idea what.
“Is she asleep?” said Sara after a long silence.
“Yes, I love holding her so I haven’t put her down yet.” Allie decided to go for it. “Are you mad at Malcolm?”
“No.”
“Are you mad at your mother?”
“Yes. Malcolm is not to blame. He is male,” she said, imitating the phrase he loved to use on them. “My mother knows better. She says it’s harmless flirting but why would she even need the extra attention? Her life is full and she has a man, a good man.”
“I don’t know. People do say flirting is harmless though. I’m sure Malcolm would never do anything to hurt you or your family.”
“He is not the one I’m worried about. She is female.” The girl smirked. She got up and put the baby in its incubator and after Allie put her baby down they went to the lower floor to read stories to the two-year-olds.
Chapter 24
Cavers: A Vampire Tale Page 34
