Old Bones (Haunted Series)

by Alexie Aaron

  ~

  Mike, on the urging of Burt, approached Ted who was typing frantically on the keyboard. Looking over his shoulder, Mike was amazed at the lines of computer commands per second that Ted was producing. He waited for a lull and cleared his voice.

  Ted stopped, turned and looked at him.

  “I want you to hear me out. We, Burt and I, want you to consider asking Father Santos to contact Angelo…”

  “No.”

  “This is something that we don’t have any experience in. You saw what the man could do in the woods. He opened the ground and… Well, he’s got power.”

  “No.”

  “Damn it, Mia means a lot to us too. We’re over our heads, way over our heads here. I worry the longer we wait, the harder it will be for even Angelo to rectify the situation.”

  “The situation is: Mia was taken into a time portal by Ed, and, Judy took Mia’s body and Murphy into a like portal and will bring them all back. We have to give her a chance. Angelo going into the past could, and probably will, cause more interference than is necessary. Judy is a healer. Angelo is a warrior.”

  “You’re willing to bet Mia’s life on this healer?” Mike asked.

  “Yes. Here’s why. I took the film of Ed’s portal and Judy’s and fed the visual information into this program. The results are almost identical. She’s done this before. I’ve also been monitoring the academic journals to see if anything has changed since Mia’s disappearance into the past. Nothing has changed. Charles has phoned a few colleagues and asked them to put web cameras up on the walls of the caverns and caves depicting Red Horn and his sons.”

  “Why?”

  “When Ed had Charles, he learned that the man was looking for answers to why history had erased him. Maybe we will find something to tell us whether or not Mia made it by changes in the pictures.”

  “You don’t think this thing is a god do you?”

  “No, but he thinks he is.”

  “So did Napoleon, Hitler and a few others I hesitate to bring up,” Mike warned.

  “Charles may have had a rough time, but he didn’t think He-who-walks-through-time was evil, just deluded.”

  “Looked pretty nasty on film. Did you get a look at his dental work?”

  Ted rolled his eyes. “Fashion. Just like the earrings. Fashion, nothing more.”

  Mike swallowed hard. “The day I file my teeth for the sake of fashion, shoot me.”

  “Will do,” Ted said. “Is there anything else?”

  “I guess not.”

  Ted returned to the program he was writing.

  Mike left the command center and went in search of Charles Cooper. Mia was his daughter. Perhaps Mike’s words would have a bigger impact there.

  ~

  Mia watched as the traveler woke up his body and opened his eyes. He stared at her which was miraculous. If he were a normal human being who just had the ability to bilocate, he wouldn’t be able to see her. But he did. Maybe he was like her and could see ghosts too. It wasn’t impossible for a human to have talents - look at what Angelo could do. Mia frowned. She didn’t like thinking of Angelo. She wondered what Angelo would do in her situation. The traveler probably would have been caught and confined somewhere where the bravest of humans wouldn’t set foot. Or dispatched. Murphy tried but only managed to wing the man.

  “What are you thinking about so intently, little one?” the traveler asked, interrupting her thoughts.

  “My thoughts are my own,” she said stubbornly.

  He sat up and adjusted the soft hide that covered his manhood. “Come, I’m hungry. I haven’t fed this body in some time.”

  They emerged from the hut to find several women staring at the traveler from their positions at the cooking fires. He said something to them that Mia didn’t understand. Soon food was brought to him and he began to eat, he was served a gruel made of the forbearer to the corn that Mia was used to. Next, a stew was brought with a spoon fashioned out of an antler of some kind. Lastly, a cut of cooked venison that had been rubbed with herbs was served.

  When he had his fill, he stood up and took a woman into the hut. Mia didn’t follow. She knew that the appetite he was sating wasn’t something she wanted to view. Instead she moved around the huts, observing the temporary nature of the settlement. It was more of an encampment than a village. The men and women went about their tasks with little conversation. She was surprised that there weren’t any children underfoot. Most of the women were older but still of childbearing age. Could the children have been left behind? Was this a trading party, a pilgrimage?

  She nosed around and took in the decorations on the pots. She saw the expected elements of earth, water and sky, she had viewed at the Field Museum’s plains collections. But the human element was different. This was a tribe she wasn’t familiar with. Could the evidence of their existence have been long plowed under by the farmers who moved here and eked out a living once the buffalo were all but eradicated from the area?

  She was watching an old woman fashion a bead out of a soft stone when she sensed that she was being watched. She turned to see that the traveler was watching her. He signaled that he wanted her to come near. She didn’t see she had much of an option so she slowly walked over.

  “Time to go into the city.”

  “Why?”

  “I want you to see what happens to non-gods in the city.”

  “I assume it’s not a party,” Mia said. “Take me back.”

  “No. Not until you figure out why I am not remembered.”

  “Perhaps it’s because you are just a man with the ability to walk out of your body, as I can. A man who can see the dead, as I can. I know I’m not a freaking god, why do you think you are?”

  A momentary line of doubt formed on his forehead. It was replaced quickly with one of determination. “Were you born, twice the size of a normal child, splitting your mother in two? No. Were you given that ability to talk before your first moon had passed? No. Are you able to walk through time as I can? No.”

  Mia considered his argument and kept silent.

  “Now come, we go to the city.”

  “Why did you take me?” Mia asked, falling into step with the traveler.

  “At first it was anger at what you had taken from me. I now think it was providence. Charles would not have survived the trip. But his daughter has. I think you are more powerful than your father. Perhaps you will be able to solve the riddle for me.”

  “How can you communicate so eloquently with me in my language?”

  “I’ve been visiting your world since I could walk. I’m not a grunting savage, little one, I am a god.”

  Mia snorted.

  He chose not to punish her. He thought she would make a good mate for him if she had a body to reside in. Of course his son would kill her as he had killed his mother, but until then…

  “What are you thinking about?” Mia said, worried as she had seen activity beneath his deerskin loin cloth.

  “I keep my own counsel,” he said and adjusted himself.

  Mia concentrated on drawing power as she walked. If she was going to escape this man, she would need a plan and the ability to change herself quickly. If she did escape, where would she go? Could she leave this time on her own? “No,” she answered herself out loud.

  “Did you say something, little one?”

  “Not on purpose, and bloody hell, stop calling me little one. I have a name. It’s Mia.”

  “Mia,” the traveler repeated.

  “I don’t suppose you have a shorter name? He-who-walks-through-time is quite a mouthful.”

  “No.”

  “Then it will be hey you or you there,” Mia said and crossed her arms. “No disrespect meant.”

  The traveler glanced down at the small fierce creature and shook his head. If he would have named her, it wouldn’t be something short and undeserving as Mia. To him she would be, She-who-flies-in-the-face-of-danger.

  Chapter Thirty

  Murphy moved a
mongst the people of the encampment. He looked in all the huts and stood next to the women as they gossiped. He understood nothing they said, but their actions spoke volumes to him. He gleaned as much as he could and returned to the tree line where Judy was waiting.

  “Ed left to go across the river after he ate and lay with a woman.”

  Judy put her hand on Murphy’s arm. “Not Mia?”

  “Not Mia,” Murphy repeated.

  “I guess he’s taking her to what they call Cahokia. I wonder what he hopes to find there.”

  Murphy touched Mia’s white hair. “No good.”

  “I know. I’ve got an idea though. See those blackberries…”

  An hour later and sporting blue-black hair, Judy emerged from the forest. She kept her green eyes downcast as she moved towards the mighty river’s edge. Murphy had found a dugout canoe and helped her inside. Together they fought the current successfully and made landfall on the other side. Judy looked at the torn and blistered skin of Mia’s hands and concentrated. Soon she saw the fluid drain and the skin knit. Satisfied, she nodded to Murphy, and they continued their trek to Cahokia.

  ~

  “Thank you, thank you, sir,” Audrey said before she put away her phone and walked over to where Mike was arguing with Doctor Cooper. “Excuse me, gentlemen,” she said brightly. “I’ve just got off the phone with Gerald Shem, and he has paved the way for us to not only film this location, but he has a contingent of armed security guards, vetted by the local police, to secure this location for a few days.”

  Mike gulped, wondering how many favors PEEPs was going to owe Gerald. “That’s great. Let’s hope we don’t need them that long.”

  Audrey nodded and left them to give Ted and Burt the good news.

  After she left, Mike felt free to cuss.

  “Problem?” Charles asked.

  “Well, Gerald Shem’s the problem. Are you familiar with him?”

  Charles shook his head.

  “Well he’s a wheeler dealer that has his hands in every pie. He has been very cooperative with PEEPS. We met him through Bernard.”

  “Bernard’s a close friend of mine,” Charles reminded Mike.

  “That’s right. Anyways, when you owe Shem, you never really sleep well until you deliver on the favor.”

  “Mafia?”

  “No, but I wouldn’t be surprised,” Mike said fidgeting. “Burt’s not going to be happy.”

  Charles thought a moment. “Suppose I take responsibility for the favor. I know a few guys myself,” he said, lifting his eyebrows.

  “I bet you do, Charles, I bet you do,” Mike said.

  Ted stared at the webcam feed of the wall of sandstone cliffs downriver from St. Louis. “Cid, come take a look at this,” he encouraged. “Look at the before picture, and look at it now.”

  “I see the addition of a depiction of a giant black bird flying,” Cid said.

  “Judy and Murphy have made it,” Ted announced.

  “Hey, this is the freakiest Polaroid ever.”

  “Didn’t even have to shake it,” Ted said, impressed with himself.

  “I’m awestruck,” Audrey said when she tracked down Burt.

  He was standing, surveying the open area behind the broken wall. He had placed mini seismic pods to alert them of any activity. But the crowning achievement was the wind detector that Cid had cobbled together out of odds and ends.

  “I think that when it comes to constructing gizmos, we have the best techs around,” Burt said proudly.

  “Yes we do, but that’s not why I’m impressed.”

  He turned and looked at Audrey, waiting patiently for her to continue.

  “You’re still here waiting for her. You haven’t abandoned Mia, or Murphy for that matter. As a team member this makes me feel very secure.”

  His eyes softened. “If the roles were different, the result would be the same. We don’t leave anyone behind. It’s who we are.”

  “Mike sent me to tell you of the favor we now owe Gerald Shem.”

  Burt let his eyebrows knit for a moment before asking about it. He knew eventually they would owe Shem something. He sighed. Keeping them safe here and legal was worth the favor.

  “Doctor Cooper says he’ll take the favor owed on his sheet.”

  “It doesn’t matter; it’s worth it. You did a good job. Thank you, we couldn’t have picked a better person to join us.”

  Audrey beamed. “Do you really mean it, considering the mess I dragged you into?”

  “Yes. Believe me, that’s nothing. It’s the nature of our business to have to face more and more challenging pain-in-the-ass investigations. If this was simple Grandma haunting her daughter-in-law kind of stuff, we would be bored stiff. Not that we wouldn’t help the daughter-in-law out, mind you.”

  “Of course, but I suspect the daughter-in-law poisoned the old bag after she found out the mother-in-law replaced her birth control pills with fertility hormones.”

  “And so spawned the terrible triplets,” Burt continued with the fantasy.

  They laughed together, adding this and that until the story had a satisfactory conclusion.

  ~

  The hot sun had most of the people in the market sitting under the thatched awning fanning themselves. A few hardy souls moved amongst the stalls trading for things they needed with things they had an abundance of. Mia marveled at the decorative copper jewelry the men wore.

  “You look amused. Tell me what you are thinking?” the traveler ordered.

  “In my time women wear the jewelry. Here, it’s a man’s world.”

  “The ornaments they wear denote their rank in the community. Many of these people here are servants of high households.”

  “Slaves,” Mia corrected.

  “Not so. Some, yes, but many are servants. They receive accommodation and compensation for their service.”

  “Why have we come here?”

  “I want to take you into the high chief’s compound. I want you to look into the private plaza and see something.”

  “Fair enough. Tell me, doesn’t it bother you to be seen talking to yourself by these people?”

  The traveler laughed. “They are naught to me. What are their stares and whispers? Gossip, nothing more. They are mortal, their lives are short. Mine however…”

  He stopped talking and turned his head towards a crowd of men who were excitedly talking. “They say a big black bird has been spotted. It flew over the marketplace. One man said the bird was bigger than brother eagle. Another argues that it only seemed big, but when it landed and took his beads, it was no more than brother crow.”

  “It took his beads?” Mia asked interested.

  “Then it offered them to the clothier and took off with women’s clothing.”

  “So this transvestite bird is a wheeler dealer,” Mia said. “An amusing story to share.”

  “I think you are right. Tell me what a transvestite is?”

  “It’s a man who likes to wear women’s garments.”

  “Is that what a tranny is?”

  Mia was surprised.

  “I heard the street people of your time talking about trannies and couldn’t find a match for the word in my memory,” he explained.

  “It’s a label. I don’t like labels, but my culture is full of them. Most times they are used to hurt or debase the original soul that walks another path. My label growing up was freak.”

  “Mortals have weak minds. They are herd animals, dangerous though,” the traveler warned. “Here not long ago, the ruling family was killed. All of them. Every blood tie to the deposed leader was put to the knife, their loyal servants slaughtered and buried with them. I was friends with the chief. He was a good man but did not listen to the whispers. Here if disease takes hold, it is a reason to change governments. Or if it doesn’t rain enough.”

  “Weather can influence the politics?” Mia was surprised.

  “These are silly ignorant peoples. They will not last.”

  Mia knew t
hey lasted for quite some time, but she supposed to a man who walked through time, a few hundred years was nothing.

  They had come to a set of steps that were heavily guarded. Mia looked at the large cypress logs embedded in the mud of the earthen mound, and her memory flashed upon the present day cement steps. The mound was impressive, and the sides were steep. Mia looked up and could not from her vantage point see the top.

  The traveler conversed with the guard that approached him. He, in turn, signaled for his superior. Soon, a large man decorated with many tattoos moved towards the traveler. He was carrying a long staff with a lethal stone tip on the top. As he walked, Mia noticed the whispers stopped, and a crowd started to form around them. The man was large like the traveler, and when he looked from him to Mia, she knew that he too had the sight.

  “He can see me,” she hissed.

  “We will use this to our advantage.”

  “He-who-walks-through-time has brought a demon with him.”

  “He-who-has-eye-of-eagle no doubt has expected me. The large black bird foretold my coming.”

  The man smiled, showing his sharp teeth. “I saw your coming. It has been a while, brother. You came in peace the last time, do you come in peace today?”

  The traveler nodded. “I wish to show my demon that you are a mighty people. My demon wishes to see your gods.”

  Mia watched the two men, not understanding their language, but she knew posturing when she saw it. The man with the spear spoke with authority, but she could sense he was ill at ease in her presence. The traveler was negotiating their passage to the first terrace where they would await word from the chief, before they would be able to ascend to the top of the mound.

  “My demon wishes you no harm. She is a lowly female demon and will not devour any of your people today.”

  “See to it that she does not. Come, I will walk with you.”

  The traveler turned to her. “Mia, we will climb. Make sure you follow me. He must think I have control over you.”