The Shade Riders and the Dreadful Ghosts

by Bxerk

  Nova knew Chayton—the name her mother had always used for her father-- was really Ralf and that he was still alive. At least she hoped so. In any case, it wouldn’t do much good to have Ned contact him. She couldn’t tell her mom that, though. “I’d like to see if Grandma N. has anything to say.”

  “How about we do Chayton instead?”

  “But, Mom…”

  Mom reached into her purse. “Okay, let’s flip a coin. Heads Grandma or tails Chayton.”

  She flipped, and it rolled on the floor. Nova ran after the coin and stomped on it stopping it on the spot.

  “It’s tails.”

  “Sorry, honey. Chayton it is.”

  When Nova examined the quarter, she discovered that it had two tails.

  “Aw, Mom that’s cheating.”

  “I’ll show you more cheating, come on.”

  “Wait, what? Ned cheats?”

  “Watch what I do.”

  So this is what her mom wanted to show her. Nova and her mom strode to Nocturnal Ned’s parlor. They opened the glass door, then pulled the dark curtains back and advance through into a small waiting room with a tiny woman behind a receptionist desk.

  “We would like to see Nocturnal Ned please for a psychic channeling,” her mom said. The receptionist nodded and shuffled behind the beaded curtain. Mom and Nova sat down on cushioned chairs.

  Ned’s assistant soon entered. She introduced herself as Rose, then perched on a stool and offered them cinnamon herbal tea. While Mom took a mug and blew on the hot brew, Rose, pen and paper in her hand asked, “Who are you hoping to contact today?”

  Mom took a sip. “The dead.”

  Nova grinned slyly.

  “Well, of course, can you give me a name?” Rose started to fidget.

  “It’s someone I know.”

  “That’s not funny.” Rose put her mug down a little too hard.

  “Okay,” Mom said, “We’re here to speak to Chayton.”

  “Chayton? That’s an unusual name.”

  “Yes, he was Sioux.”

  “Sue?” Rose paused her scribbling. “Oh, you mean he was Native American?”

  “Yes.” Mom winked at Nova.

  Then the woman slammed her hand down on the counter. Nova jumped.

  “Ma’am, this is a mutual endeavor. We will need your help with honest answers to these questions for this séance.”

  “Yeah, but…” Nova said. Mom tapped Nova on the knee, gave her a wink, and shushed her. “…Ned’s supposed to be psychic.”

  Rose sat very still on her stool stared at Nova like she thought she might be a boy. Then she continued. Mom answered the questions as curtly as possible. Nova smirked. Were they going to get kicked out?

  Rose frowned. She reluctantly took the coupon and cut the

  payment in half before ringing a bell to let Ned know his guests were ready. A tall skinny red headed man – he looked very different up close - came out from behind a dark curtain and asked Mom and Nova to follow him into his chambers. Nova watched Ned and Rose give each other a secret sign, then she followed her mom.

  Right before she would be out of sight of the assistant, she paused and watched her to see what the lady would do next. Rose grabbed a headset with microphone and the pen and paper she wrote her mom’s information on. Nova shook her head and caught up with her mother.

  Nocturnal Ned sat at the end of a round table with a red vinyl cloth thrown over it, and Nova and her mom sat on either side in comfortable chairs. Nova looked around the small room, where candles and incense burned, tickling her nose. Ned had a pad of paper on the table and a pen in his hand. “I see you’re here to speak to Chayton? And he died recently?”

  “No, about eleven years ago,” Mom said. Nova noticed an almost invisible earpiece in Ned’s ear. Yep, he was probably listening to his assistant.

  “I shall try to summon up Chayton, who will take possession of my body. He will use my hand to write in the notebook.” Ned leaned back in the chair and took several deep breaths. “Yes, yes. I feel his presence.” He hung his head, unrolled his shoulders, then his hand with the pen began to shake and write.

  Ned gritted his teeth. The pen looked like it was out of control. He grabbed the pen with his other hand and tried to master it. What was he doing that for? Nova almost laughed, because she thought she saw a similar act in a movie somewhere.

  “Ah, Chayton is a strong one.” Ned grinned, looked puzzled, then his face turned red.

  Nova gazed askance at him and shifted in the chair. Why was he doing this? He couldn’t really be possessed, could he? She noticed her mom was rather enjoying herself, chuckling quietly. Finally, Ned lifted up his pen. He looked at it strangely and hurled it onto the table. Ned grabbed another pen from a holder nearby and began to jot more notes.

  Nova watched Ned staring at his hand as it continued

  flowing and writing over another page. He looked genuinely scared. When he finally stopped he put the pen down - his armpits had large wet stains. Ned did the same ritual he did when he slid into the trance. He had puffy eyes, slack jaw and tousled hair like he just woke up.

  He blinked rapidly as though surprised Nova and her mom were sitting there. As Ned examined his papers, he made a strange twisted face. With shaky hands, he ripped off a portion that he had written and tossed it on the other side of his chair. Then he handed the other part to Nova and Mom.

  Mom handed it back. “I don’t understand this. It’s all chicken scratching.”

  “Okay, okay, I’ll translate.” Ned took five minutes to read the paper silently, moving his lips before he responded. “Chayton said he is glad you came today.”

  Mom gave a mischievous grin.

  “He wrote a whole lot more than that,” Nova said.

  “Are you Chayton’s daughter?” Ned’s tone of voice hinted at irritation.

  “Yes, she is.” Mom stroked Nova’s hair.

  “Was he there at the hospital?”

  “No, he died before she was born.”

  “He said he was there at the hospital with you and that she turned out to be beautiful.”

  “She was born in the divorce courtroom with my ex-husband.”

  Ned stared with amazement on his face.

  “You mean you delivered her without going to the hospital?”

  Mom nodded and touched her necklace.

  “He also acknowledges the necklace you’re wearing.”

  “What about the necklace?”

  “Chayton gave that to you, didn’t he?”

  “No, Nova gave it to me on my birthday.”

  “I’m sorry, what I meant to say was that Nova had spiritual help from Chayton picking it out.” Ned stuck his finger between his neck and his shirt.

  “He gave you one of those rings on your fingers?”

  “No, he didn’t believe in any type of decoration or jewelry. What exactly did Chayton write down on that piece of paper? How about that piece you tore off?”

  “Sorry, time is up. Have a nice day. Oh, and here are some flyers to pass along to your friends because you had a great séance.”

  “It wasn’t a great séance and you can forget about a tip.” Mom and Nova left the booth and entered the waiting room. Mom said to Rose, ”I want my money back.”

  Rose shook her head. It seemed pretty final –she’d probably had a lot of practice with the demand.

  Nova and her mom left through the curtain. Mom was ticked off.

  Ned chased after them. He grabbed Mom by her shoulder and whispered angrily into her ear. “Either you tip me forty percent or I call the police.”

  “Just you do that, and I’ll let the public know, you‘re a fraud with my own flyers. And a letter to the editor.”

  She and her mother continued toward the truck. Nova never saw her mother like this. She actually was a pretty good actress. Behind them, Nova heard the door slam and Ned cussing. She wondered what was on that piece of paper on the floor near Ned’s chair. Whatever it was, it had surprised
him.

  Maybe he wasn’t such a fraud after all. Not completely.

  Chapter 15 Stood-up

  After a hot and sweaty day of detasseling corn with Scott and Wilha, Nova was not as tired as if she bailed everyone out of their corn row. The three family members stopped to get some ice cream at a Dairy Queen for the slow bike trip home. Nova enjoyed cruising along as she ate her Dilly bar. Scott had a radio on his bike playing something loud. The music helped improve Nova’s mood as she rolled along. Even though she was smaller than her brother and sister, she still could keep up with them easily. They came to the family’s farm driveway and rode down. Nova strolled inside to rinse off her sticky fingers and phone Takeesha. They made plans to meet at the 4-H dog class that was held inside a pole utility barn with a cement floor at the fairgrounds later after dinner. Nova hung up and started her chores.

  Mom came home on the trike that had two baskets on the back wheels. The trike pulled the two wheel kid’s cart behind. She yanked out a couple bags of groceries.

  “Mom, are you making dinner?” Scott yelled out the barn door.

  “Yes, I think we’ll have some corn on the cob…”

  “No!” Nova came out of the milk house and grabbed some grocery bags. “I don’t want ever to see or smell corn again.”

  “Come on, corn on the cob? Anyone else have a problem with it?”

  “I don’t feel like it either.” Scott started toward the bike trailer and hauled out a couple more bags to take inside.

  Wilha came out of the kennel, made a face, and stuck her tongue out.

  Mom sighed and stomped inside. “I’m still making some. Eat it or not, it’s up to you.”

  When Nova left the bathroom after taking a shower, she said, “I still smell the corn, Mom.”

  “Oh for crying out loud.” Mom clunks her mystery book against the side of the dining room table.

  “Well, what do you want? We’re sick of thinking about corn for eight hours a day-Monday through Saturday.” Nova checked the pork chops with cream of mushroom soup on the top and licked her lips. Boy, she was so hungry. The potatoes were boiling, and she turned them down before they foamed over the top.

  “What other vegetable do you want then?”

  “How about some carrots or tomatoes from our garden?” Nova peeked in the refrigerator. “Oh, there aren’t any carrots. I’ve been feeding so many to Shade.”

  “And I didn’t buy any because I thought we had plenty. Cut up the tomatoes and put them on a plate for the others. Sprinkle a little fresh basil on top. I’ll eat the corn alone.”

  The family sat down and ate the meal. It was delicious though Nova’s nose wrinkled from the smell of corn.

  “What are your plans tonight everyone?” Mom asked.

  “I’m going to meet Takeesha at the fairgrounds.”

  “Do you need to meet her? Can’t you stay home?”

  “We already made plans, Mom.”

  “Ask Takeesha if her mom can take you home. Take a radio and Wilha can ride with you.”

  “I wanted to go to Jarva’s house,” Wilha said.

  “Okay, after you drop her off, you can go to Jarva’s. It should still be light out. Scott, what are you going to do?”

  “I’m going to barrel race and ride Chocolate in the back.”

  “Belle will like that.”

  The two girls rode their bikes to the fairgrounds. As soon as they arrived Wilha took off. Nova parked her bike and strolled inside to find her friend. She scanned the whole building, but Takeesha was nowhere to be found among the milling dogs and owners. She skipped outside and looked over the grounds. She couldn’t find her there either. Nova approached a tall woman leader who was observing the class.

  “Pardon me, have you seen Takeesha anywhere?”

  “What does she look like?”

  “She’s about a foot taller than me with brown skin, and she has a black lab called Boomer.”

  “Oh, Boomer, Yes, I know who you are talking about. She dropped out or something. She hasn't been showing up.”

  The leader left to help a boy whose dog wouldn’t sit on command. Nova waited for a while then she strolled to the girl’s bathroom.

  The doorway was blocked by a tall skinny girl’s body.“Where do you think you are going? This is a girl’s restroom.” Nova frowned and pushed her way through anyway.

  “DON’T GO INTO THE GIRL’S BATHROOM. THERE IS A BOY IN THERE.” The girl said in the hallway. Nova cringed. She used the washroom, but she couldn't look at herself in the mirror when she washed her hands. She wondered why this happened to her so often. Was she really that ugly?

  She peeked into the mirror for a second and saw the small Neanderthal man staring at her with a vicious face. She jumped back. When she looked again, he was gone. Was she somehow projecting this man’s face on her own? Was this what people were seeing when they looked at her? She began to sweat, and a cold chill ran down her back.

  Nova got on her bike and took off away from the fairgrounds. She rode her bike through town hoping nothing else would happen to her. Then she turned a corner and stopped short.

  Takeesha was with a gang of older kids, running and spray painting stuff on the walls and windows of stores.

  “Dear Vulcan.” Nova’s stomach was knotted up. This wasn’t the Takeesha she thought she knew. She also thought they had been inseparable friends, at least until lately. Nova winced and hunched down further on her bike seat and backed up into the shadow of an alley.

  Suddenly, a pink iridescent man ran onto the street in front of her. Then he grew into a huge muscular iridescent greenish glowing muscular man.

  “Dear Vulcan, what the…?”

  The monster reached under a lone red car and flipped it over with ease.

  “Holy chaos!”

  He picked up a bike stand and threw it through the drug store window. Shattered glass flew everywhere. He grabbed a bicycle taxi and threw it down hard against the pavement causing it to twist and break. The gang members under the streetlights stared, their faces white. The huge man strode toward them. Then Nova blinked and the man was down on the road, a dark pony or young horse with wings stood on his chest, breathing in his face.

  Shade!

  Nova almost whistled but stopped herself. If she did that, Shade would come to her and possibly bring the green man with her. That was a scary thought. Nova could hear the iridescent greenish glowing man talking loudly to someone, but she didn’t know who it was. He seemed to be talking to his bandaged finger. What was that all about?

  "I'm trying to catch the horse, but it now has my arms pinned." He tried to kick the horse off himself, but his legs weren't strong enough.

  Nova heard a huge crash of garbage cans behind her, and a couple of fighting cats growled and screamed at each other. Then the hair on her neck stood on end. She felt cold and an utmost dread. Nova slowly turned.

  Sure enough, five ghosts were staring at her. They soon began to crowd around her. The ghosts changed from peaceful looking people in old fashioned pioneer clothing to skeletons in robes. Nova could feel the blood drain from her face.

  "Nova I'm here for you.”

  It was Leandra speaking from the watch.

  “You need to ride to Benny's house as fast as you can. I'm on the trail of Nocturnal Ned and...think I have him finally."

  “Oh… okay.”

  Nova didn’t know if she should ride right past the green glowing man or try to avoid him and ride around.

  She decided to go around. Taking off on her bike, she took one last look at where Shade and the man were.

  Shade took off into the night sky. The man was back to

  normal size, pink iridescent, and a woman that looked like Leandra in a long gray coat, tackled him with shiny, silver handcuffs clutched in her hands.

  Nova raced passed buildings and could no longer see the arrest attempt. She wished she could have watched it. But the ghosts were on her tail. They screamed like banshees as they floated around her
, trying to get in front of her bike.

  “Bike don’t fail me now.”

  Nova rode down an open-ended alley to escape the flying banshees. She was sweating, her legs were burning something awful, and she didn't think she could keep up the pace. Suddenly a dark Buick pulled into the alley in front of her, making a horrible racket reeking with exhaust. The owner must have tried to come up with an alternative fuel. Nova swerved and skidded to turn around and shot some pebbles up onto the car.

  “Hey, are you trying to get killed?” the driver yelled as he half got out of the car.

  There was no other way around. Nova realized she had to turn back and ride through the stupid ghosts. She started out slow but gained speed until she rammed them with all she had. She felt the cold and the horrible feeling of fear as she passed through them.

  The ghosts screamed and reached for her. Nova clutched her stomach, faltered and fell off her bike, scraping her knee on the pavement and her ankle on a petal. She could feel the blood rolling down her leg when she stood up to get back on. Nova looked back; the ghosts were almost on her.

  She started to pedal. Her leg hurt a lot, but she had to get away. She put out every ounce of energy she had into out running the ghosts. Between the large dinner and the day of detasseling corn, she was pretty wiped out. She took a turn down a road toward Benny’s house, rode in the gutter near the curb, and ended up running over something sharp.

  Her front tire blew.

  “Crap!”

  Just when Nova thought she was doomed, somewhere she found a reserve of energy and kept going until she got to her destination. She dropped her bike and staggered to the door. To her surprise, Max Kim opened it and let her in. Out of breath, Nova said, “Ghosts… chasing me." She plopped down on the couch in the living room and panted. Her chest felt like it was going to explode.

  Then Nova noticed pillows all over the room. They look like they had been thrown around. Had Benny and Max Kim been having a pillow fight?

  “Turn out the lights.” Benny disappeared into his room then rushed back out. Max Kim made the room dark.