For a long moment, nothing happened. The men in the doorway seemed to be yelling orders to the inside of the house. Were his parents in there?
Grey felt his heart thumping in his little bird chest. He wanted to fly in and help, but he also knew that if he did he’d be caught and killed. It would be much harder to get away if he got cornered in the house. He forced himself to calm down and breathe. Then, his breath was taken from him again.
Two men emerged from the house, bent over from the waist. On the ground, they were dragging his mother.
“She’s a shifter! Get her!”
The flashing metal pieces were raised and then thrown down with a loud, hard thud. His mother’s screams went all the way up to the sky. He could hear cracks and thwaps as she begged for mercy. The men gave her none, but rather kept hitting and yelling, saying something about how she deserved this, she needed it. Soon, his mother wasn’t yelling anymore.
The horrible beating stopped and the men stood around, their heads and eyes down on the ground where her unmoving body lay. They mumbled a few words and one kicked her with his boot. Grey waited for his mother to say something, to cry – anything – but she made no noise.
Slowly, the men moved away and left her bloody, broken body on the ground. They walked off without looking back, instead raising their weapons and yelling out to others nearby. They were about to cross the boundary into the earthbound side, but a big, strange cat crossed their path. One of the men jumped back in fear, but the cat didn’t attack, holding them at the boundary as one earthbound family after another ran as fast as they could to get away.
With the attackers distracted and the others on their way to safety, Grey flew down to his mother’s head. Her hair was sticky with blood and her jaw was broken and lopsided. He settled into the space between her ear and her shoulder, nestling down onto her flowing, brown hair and put his beak near her ear.
“Mama Bird,” he whispered. “Mama Bird, I’m here. Wake up. Wake up, Mama Bird. Wake up. Please. Please, Mama Bird…” His tiny eyes welled with tears almost too big for them to cry, and he rested his little feathered head against his cold, dying mother. The air grew cold and he wanted to find his father, but he didn’t move. He felt paralyzed by the stiff and silent body beside him. He stayed there, nestled in her brown hair until dawn, whispering his love to his mother and begging her to return.
Grey woke to find himself in his own bed and in human form. His father, who must have found him, was there beside him with his head in his hands. His skin was ashen, and when he looked up, Grey could see the dark circles under Floyd’s eyes. The two looked at one another and reached out to hold the other by the arm. They clutched each other and cried softly. Neither said a word.
A few weeks later, Grey learned what had happened. Some human children had been attacked just over the border of The Hills and were in the hospital with broken bones and huge gashes on their faces. The police found what looked like claw marks and paw prints all around the house where the kids had been beaten. Each child swore it was an animal that had appeared from nowhere and come at them, but none of them seemed sure what kind of creature it had been.
Their friends and neighbors had waited for the police to make an arrest, but because the children couldn’t name the animals they swore had instigated the whole problem, none of the law enforcers were sure of where to start. So, they just left the victims on their own. That was when they decided to go and get the shifters themselves.
None of the news services or papers offered an explanation for the massive fires and videos of desperate mobs they had shown that day. Their silence made Grey’s heart change; it began to develop a hard, dense shell. These grown-ups were lying just like the president had lied about their new home. He didn’t know how they had done it, but somehow they had made the humans kill his mother. He made a fist and felt his fingernails press into his palm like teeth biting into skin. He didn’t know any shifters who attacked human children. Everyone he knew in The Hills were far too frightened of humans to do anything like that. And yet, the humans didn’t seem scared of them at all.
Grey listened on several occasions while his own father tried to speak to the police about the death of Avey, his mother. They made notes and nodded their heads, but Grey’s father was always angry about it. He told Grey the police didn’t care about them and were just as uneducated as the others. Grey didn’t understand – his mother had been killed. Someone needed to go to jail. He offered to help, but that just made his father sad.
Several weeks went by and things calmed down. The families came back little by little and moved back into their homes. Grey didn’t know where they had been hiding, but he knew that there was a secret place only shifters knew about. He didn’t ask any questions because he wanted to show he could be trusted.
His father spent more and more time at home, saying the president didn’t need him so much anymore. Grey asked what had happened and got a comment about the government feeling guilty and “hush money,” but he wasn’t sure what any of it meant. He decided to look for Harper and ask her himself.
He didn’t have to look far; he took to the skies and saw Harper and her father at a big event. An old building called a shopping mall had been repaired and would be available to the people of the city. They had put a big, red ribbon across the door, and the president had a huge pair of scissors in his hands. Grey flew to the top of a lamppost and perched there to watch.
“I hereby proclaim,” President Bachmann said in his sweet, dripping voice, “this former shopping mall open and available to the public. Now remember,” he added, “first one to a space gets to claim it. On your mark, get set, go!”
The giant scissors flashed, and the ribbon fell open just in time for the crowd to crush themselves through the giant doorway. Bachmann held Harper back so that no one would run her over, and the two of them watched excitedly as the mortals fought for a space. Grey decided it was a good time to make his move.
He swooped down and over to the president and his daughter, flitting around for a moment to get Harper’s attention. She saw him and just watched him for a moment, then her eyes lit up with a moment of recognition.
“Grey! Oh, Daddy, it’s my friend Grey. Can I play with him for a moment, please?”
“Where, darling? This little American kestrel? Why, look at him!” The president presented his arm, and Grey landed on it as calmly as he could, though inside he was shaking. Bachmann’s big, dark eyes drifted down to Grey’s level and his heavy, syrupy voice boomed through the air.
“What are you doing here, little bird?”
“Mr. President,” he responded, “I’m Grey Wiseman, Floyd Wiseman’s son. I came to ask if um, if…” Grey tried to continue, but all he could see was the mental image of his father sitting at home on the little messy nest they had made, sitting without Grey’s mother, not eating and not moving. ‘The president did that to him. This man,’ he thought to himself. Then, the image left him, and Grey suddenly understood something: the president had the money and the power to change lives. No matter what happened, Grey had to find a way to work with the power above his head. Just like his father.
“I came to ask if I could work for you.”
The president raised his eyebrows in an impressed expression. “Well, well. An in-person application from the loyal Wiseman family. I am impressed. Turn into your human form, boy.”
Grey flitted down and then grew to what felt like an enormous stature after embodying such a small shape for the morning. He stood up tall and proud to face the president who looked him up and down.
“I am sorry to tell you,” he began, “that your father has been let go. With a substantial severance package, I may add. However,” the president put his hand on his daughter’s head, “my daughter would simply adore a messenger. She talks about all the days the two of you spent in the park, playing together. Perhaps you could be messenger to the First Daughter. I’ll pay you an entry wage. What do you say?”
Grey ha
d no idea what a severance or a wage was, or why Harper had any need for a messenger, but he kept a serious expression on his face so that the president wouldn’t change his mind.
“Thank you, Mr. President. It would be an honor.” The man and the boy shook hands, then Harper squealed and threw her arms around her friend’s neck.
“Oh, yay!” She gave him a squeeze, and Grey was surprised at how soft and nice-smelling Harper’s clothes were. She seemed to be made of soft and luxurious materials that had been scented with flowers. “Now we can play every day right in the palace. We’re going to have so much fun!”
Grey’s stomach gave a big twist, but he kept his brave face on. “I’m a man now,” he thought to himself, “and men have to do scary things.”
Chapter 4
Ten Years Later
Tina blinked her eyes open and immediately regretted it. The light hit her retinas with a vengeance, and she groaned with the pain of the morning all around her. Why did everything have to start so early and be so cold?
She staggered out to the little communal shower stall and stripped. It didn’t take long; her clothes were getting smaller and smaller each day thanks to the new tax. She tried not to look at the tatters hanging in front of her on the door as she reached up to tip down her bucket.
A wave of icy-cold water crashed down on top of her head, and she let out a big “Whoo!” She shook her long, fringed hair and grabbed for the giant slice of soap that always sat on the edge of the stall. That day, it was gone.
“Hey neighbors,” she called out, “who’s got the soap? Some of us are dirty over here.”
“Not much I can do about that,” Black Feather’s voice called back. “But if you want to bathe, I could pass you this chunk.”
“Yes, please.” Tina wrapped her arms around herself and shivered as the cold air hit her wet skin.
“What’ll you give me for it?” Black Feather’s voice had taken on a teasing tone. He loved to torment her, especially at the showers.
“My undying adoration.”
“Come on,” Black Feather said, holding up a nice, blue piece of soap straight out of the stall, “you can do better than that.”
“Black,” Tina pleaded. “Come on. Give a girl a break. I don’t know what you want.”
“How about an invite to the party on Friday?”
Tina froze. The Cave Fest was invite only, no guests. The wolf shifters took that party very seriously and would never have her back if they knew she had purposely invited an airborne. But, she couldn’t see the harm in Black Feather showing up on his own. Maybe if she just pretended to be as shocked as everyone else, she could pull it off.
“You won’t bring anyone?”
“No one.”
“And you won’t tell anyone I gave you the location?”
“Of course not.” Black Feather stood on his tiptoes so that he could flash his big, warm smile in Tina’s direction. She looked at his handsome face and melted, but just a little.
“Fine. I’ll pass you the details in school. But you have to memorize them and then destroy the evidence. I mean it.”
“Yes!” He tossed the blue soap in the air, and Tina leapt up and caught it expertly. She soaped up as fast as she could, scrubbing her scalp with the big, cologne-scented cleaner, then gave herself another round with the bucket. She quickly toweled off and dressed, but Black Feather took his time, letting her go out first.
As Tina left, she glanced back at the showers. She didn’t see any soap in any of the stalls. Black must have really wanted an invite. What did he care about their party, anyway? Since when did an airborne want to be underground? She shook her head and hoped he would forget about it, then went off to get breakfast.
It had taken a few months for any enterprising shifters to create some kind of business in the settlement, but once things calmed down and got into a rhythm, several of the shifter women had gotten together and made a little food stand. It wasn’t much to look at. It had corrugated metal walls that looked ready to topple at any moment, and the menu was spray-painted on one side, but none of that mattered. What got everyone excited about the place was the food.
Tina’s mom, Faye Traxon, oversaw the fry station. She cooked up rat, snake, and mouse better than anyone. The trick, she had told Tina once, was to skin the animal with the help of both boiling and cold water. That preserved the integrity of the flesh while taking away the fur or the scales. She walked up, smelling the hot, boiling oil that Larrisa’s mom got for free from her job. The women always started the day by frying onions whole; it made the whole settlement smell good and all the shifters hungry.
Tina peeked into the busy kitchen and blew a kiss to her mother. She gave a distracted “Hi, Honey,” then went back to her fryer. She had to catch her goods at just the right moment or they would go from tender to tough, and she detested putting bad meat in front of a customer.
Teenage Tina took a plastic stool and looked around, making sure to sit so the sun hit her hair. She wanted it to dry before she went to school. It was there that Grey found her and gave her his sad, world-weary smile.
“Tina, good morning. May I join you?”
“Oh, my God. Just sit down. You are too formal for this world. No one can handle it.” She crossed her legs and looked away to see who else was around. She waved at some school friends, and Grey quickly checked to see whom she was greeting.
“Hey, I know those guys. Earthbounds. They’re forming a team, right?”
“Yeah. Soccer, I think. I suppose it’s easy enough to set up. And just about anybody can play it. I mean, not me, but you know, most people.”
“Tina, I’m sure if you really tried you could do it.”
She rolled her eyes. “Thanks, Dad.” She turned and faced Grey head-on, taking him in.
Little Grey had grown up, but far too fast. His face was always stern and set, and he rarely broke out in laughter. He had dirty, dishwater blond hair and big, powerful arms and shoulders from all the flying he did. His legs were strong as well, but his lower limbs didn’t even begin to compare to those on the top half of his body. He was tall and imposing, but no one took him seriously because he carried himself in such a grave manner. He was only sixteen but looked ready to be a grandfather.
“You really should quit working for the First Daughter,” Tina told him. “That job is aging you more than you realize.”
“I can’t quit,” he responded, pausing for Larissa’s mom to put some fried mice down in front of him. “I’m locked in for life. Besides, we need the money.”
Tina raised her fried snake to her mouth and blew on the hot food. “No one needs money that badly. And don’t kid yourself; everyone knows your dad is hiding money. You two aren’t broke.”
“That’s his money to do with as he sees fit.”
“Okay, stop. Save the legalese for your next hot date.”
“Ha.” They fell silent as they ate, avoiding eye contact with one another. The two of them had always had a little bit of an attraction to one another, but after an intensely awkward date, they decided to keep things platonic. Every once in a while, though, the old spark reared up and threatened to burst into the flames of young love, but so far it had never followed through. Tina sincerely hoped it never would; she wasn’t quite ready for a serious love affair.
To get her mind off her past with Grey, Tina took in the young boys around her, gathering to eat breakfast. She smiled at Sam Digger, the bear shifter, and he wiggled his eyebrows at her. She giggled and tried to copy the gesture, but was unsuccessful. Sam shook his head, disappointed. Couldn’t she mock someone properly? His disapproving face was even funnier, and she laughed again.
Over by the water pump was Black Feather, her tormentor from earlier that day. Black had grown up intensely handsome with his sharp, glinting eyes and intense stare that he balanced out with a big, friendly laugh that burst out of him at the slightest provocation. With his feathery black hair and sharp jawline, he had plenty of airbornes and earthboun
ds all over him, but he didn’t seem interested in anyone in particular. He caught Tina staring and gave her a little wink, reminding her of their deal. She sighed and turned away.
“Boyfriend hunting?”
“What?” Grey’s question had shocked her to the point of dropping her snake into the dirt. She picked it up and shook the dirt off, brushing the sides to save as much as she could.
“Sorry about that,” Grey said, “didn’t mean to make you lose your breakfast.” He held out a hand. “Give it to me, and I’ll buy you another.”
“No,” she shook her head and bit into the dirty food, “that’s okay. I don’t want to waste it. Mom wouldn’t like that.”
“That’s sweet of you,” Grey said, not bothering to insist. Life on the settlement had taught them all to value every tiny bite of food. He politely covered up a burp, excused himself and stood to go. He had work.
Tina checked the shadows on the ground and saw that it would be time for school soon. She forced herself to swallow the last bite of gritty, dirt-covered snake and then pulled out her comb. She stood and looked into one of the many broken mirrors on the far wall of the restaurant’s patio and combed her hair back into a long, wavy ponytail. Her mother had been lucky enough to find a good quality hair band during a junk run with her friends and brought it home for her. It was one of Tina’s three possessions.
The hair band was her favorite as it was a gift from her mother, and it gave her a sense of pride. Having her long tresses under control and out of her face made getting through her day much easier. She didn’t care what the gossipers had to say about how she’d gotten it; she knew the real story.
Two more treasures lived in a secret little box that Tina kept buried in the dirt under her bed. They were a fake crystal – a prism was the actual word – and a short book. Books had gone away shortly after the Bachmanns came to power. They had graciously offered to read all of the old books and teach their contents to the people, but they must have forgotten. Very few humans or shifters had any idea how to read and hadn’t since her mother was a little girl.
Briar on Bruins' Peak (Bruins' Peak Bears Book 7) Page 16
