by Bxerk
“I’ve got a magnetic meter, here.” In his hands, Benny had a gadget that used a compass and a bar magnet. He rolled to the door and took a reading. Nova and Max Kim looked outside just in time to see the ghosts vanish in wisps of white.
“What is causing them to go away?” Nova asked.
“I don’t know. But it looks like they are made of plasma from an aurora borealis right above this house. Here look. Right up there.” Benny pointed upward out the window.
“Yeah, I saw one above the school the other day,” Nova said excitedly. “That’s what’s causing them. It has to be.”
“Well, how do we fight them?” Max Kim said.
“Infrasound can’t be fought. It’s a sound that we can only feel, not hear. It makes people think they see ghosts. Elephants, whales, and tigers use the special sound waves because they carry a huge distance. Even the Inuit people fear the deadly Aura Borealis.”
“But it’s not deadly for us. I think Leandra knows something,” Nova said folding her arms on her chest. “Too bad she’s busy arresting Ned.”
Chapter 16 Nova's secret
It was dusk, humid and drizzling a little. At Nova’s farm, the flies and mosquitoes were buzzing about Nova and Max Kim’s heads. Nova held onto the long lounge rope used for getting a horse to exercise by running around a person in a circle.
Shade circled around her about four yards away. The other horses were in the back pasture. Shade’s mother, Chocolate, had lost interest in her filly a while ago.
Darkness approached, and Shade’s beautiful black and gold glossy wings expanded. Still on the lounge rope, she flapped twice, then glided around a yard off the ground.
“What is that?” Max Kim said pointing.“Are those… wings?”
“Yeah, I’ve meant to tell you about that.”
Max Kim stepped toward Shade, ducked down low so as not to get into the way of the rope. He pranced right into Shade's tail, then he got swept up into the air behind the flying horse and was riding above the ground in a slipstream force.
“Holy chaos!” Nova yelled. “Be careful.”
Shade continued to fly in a circle. After a moment of panic, Max Kim began to laugh and tried out a couple somersaults in mid-air.
“Look at me, Nova, I can fly! Whee…this is so much fun!”
“I don’t know about this…”
After about half an hour, Nova landed Shade, dropping her to the ground. In the next minute, Max Kim’s face was in Shade's tail again. At least he had landed on his feet.
Nova grabbed him by the shirt and said,” Max Kim it’s very important that you don’t tell anyone besides Benny and Takeesha, got it?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“I mean it.”
"I know," Max Kim said. “Man, that was fun. You want to try?"
Chapter 17 Weapon
The next day, Takeesha called. “Hey Nova, I just heard from Max Kim that your filly has wings? That can’t be true! How come you get to be so lucky? When can I come over to see this miracle?”
“Benny’s coming over tonight. Why don’t you join us.”
“Okay, I’ll ask if Boomer and I can come over.”
It sounded like Takeesha put the phone receiver down and called her mother. Then she heard a quiet conversation between two people in the background. Takeesha picked up the phone.
“I can come over after supper, but Boomer’s staying home.”
“Good, I’ll see you then. Wait, you didn’t tell your family? Did you?”
“Oh gosh, Nova, you should know me by now. I can keep a secret. You know what I mean?”
But for the first time she could remember, Nova wasn’t sure she knew Takeesha.“This isn’t just a secret. It is a huge secret!”
“Come on, girl! I’m fine with it.”
“Okay, see you tonight.”
After dinner, Nova strolled into the bathroom to wash barbecue off her face and hands. While she was drying up, the communication device on her wrist vibrated. She saw Leandra’s eye watching her. Nova spoke into the watch. “What’s up?”
“I want all of you to come over again. It’s very important.”
“Does Shade need to come?”
“No, just you kids. It will only take five minutes.”
Leandra winked then her eye disappeared.
Around 8:15 P.M. Takeesha, Max Kim and Benny arrived at Nova’s farm. The kids headed down toward the gate.
“Let’s wait for sundown in the woods,” Nova said. “I brought some mosquito and tick repellent.”
The kids strolled and wheeled through the gate and moved down the tractor path, walking along side of Benny. They sprayed themselves down and sat on logs in the woods to wait for dusk. Nova fiddled with the lounge line as the kids sighed and waited.
They swatted at mosquitoes, gnats and biting horse flies. “This had better be good,” Benny said. Takeesha nodded.
“It was so much fun riding behind Shade,” Max Kim said. “Just wait and see, you won’t believe your eyes.”
Darkness finally approached.
They watched as the horses started to trudge slowly toward the catch pen. Nova left the woods and tried to corner her horse, but Shade became skittish and trotted
away from her. She wasn’t going to have any more lounging, not tonight. Nova brought out some carrots from her pocket and whistled to get her horse’s attention. Shade changed her mind when she saw the sweet root and came over.
She wasn’t alone. The other horses saw the food and approached, trying to bite for them too. Nova’s hand became wet from all the nibbling. She reached up and grabbed Shade’s red halter and snapped the lounge line on it.
“Max Kim and Takeesha, help spook the other horses, so I have room to lounge Shade. I’m going to need about four yards for each wing plus her body.” Nova tried to move to a space that was away from the other horses but to no avail. Max Kim and Takeesha yelled and clapped at them, Which spooked them a little, but the other horses wandered back to be near Shade. Max Kim and Takeesha rolled their eyes and then had to scare the horses enough that they would run into the catch pen. Belle helped keep them going with a nibble on a hock and a bark. Max Kim and Takeesha were panting when they came back to sit down on a couple of logs near Benny.
In the pasture, Nova used the other end of the soft rope to
whip Shade’s hip and croup. As soon as the horse began to trot in a circle, Nova stopped with the whip. Shade would continue
running around in the circle until Nova gave her the signal to run in the opposite direction. Shade put out her black and gold glossy wings and flapped them lifting a yard off the ground.
“That is so clash!” Benny said.
Takeesha’s eyes flashed. She kept very quiet and pressed her lips hard together.
“Here, watch this.” Max Kim’s eyes sparkled. He danced along the rope, then jumped into the slipstream. He flew around the lounge circle, doing some flips and some summersaults. “It’s so cushiony too. Watch I’ll do a magic trick.” A deck of cards flew through the air in an arch from one hand to another, while he stood on what looked like an invisible platform.
“Whoo hoo!” Benny yelled.
“Way to go,” Takeesha said, but she sounded unenthusiastic.
“Let me try it, now.” Benny rolled forward.
“Nah, you really think you should? You could get hurt. Max Kim, I’m landing Shade.” Nova landed her horse.
“I’ll stand up behind him and hold onto his chair.” Max Kim landed on his feet.
Nova patted Shade’s shoulder. “I don’t know, guys.”
“Aw, come on. I’ll be fine,” Benny said. “I want to fly again like I did on my dirt bike.”
“You had the use of both of your legs then. Come on, you could really get hurt. If you try it, I won’t lounge anymore.”
“Damn it, Nova, I want to be normal as much as the next guy. Let me try it.” Benny started to inch his way closer to the horse. An outstretched wing almost clobbered him
. He had to duck down.
Nova was about to say no, But when she saw the hurt on Benny’s face she said, “Come on Benny, you’re a smart guy, I bet you could come up with a much safer way to do this. By the way, Leandra wants to see us. Who can go?”
“I can,” Benny and Max Kim said.
“Pass,” Takeesha said. “I‘m having some company over and need to get going. Tell me later what she says, you know what I mean? Can I use your phone to call Ma?”
“Sure. We’ll meet up with you later.” Nova unclipped the lounge rope and swatted her on the rump. Shade snorted and ran to the other horses.
Nova and her friends ambled back toward the farmhouse. Inside, Scott was filling the bottom half of taco shells with beef.
“Hi, Scott. What are you doing?” Nova asked.
Takeesha walked to the phone.
“I’m making my dinner. What’s it look like?” He threw some fixings on top.
“I was wondering if it would be okay to let Max Kim here borrow your bike for a night ride around the block.”
“I don’t know. I’ll think about it.”
“Come on. We won’t hurt it,” Nova said.
“Do you have some collateral?”
Benny rolled his eyes.
“Huh?” Nova asked.
“You know, if you break it you have to give me something of yours that’s of the same value of my bike. So what do you have that’s worth seven hundred dollars?”
In her mind, Nova went over everything she had that might be worth a good chunk of change. The only thing she came up with was Shade.
“Never mind, we’ll walk. Please tell Benny’s and Max Kim’s parents we won’t be long.” Nova shuffled to the cookie jar and pulled out eight cookies. Takeesha was waiting outside on the porch when they left the house. Nova handed out two cookies each. They discussed the planets and stars above as they waited. Takeesha’s mom was there in ten minutes. The three kids waved goodbye to Takeesha and left to go to Leandra’s house.
A full moon lit up the road and surrounding woods for the long walk.
“Let’s pass the time and see if we can outrun Benny’s wheelchair.”
“Yeah,” Max Kim said.
“You think you’re faster than my chair?”
“You betcha,” Nova said.
Benny sat up straight. “I’ll even give you two a head start. Ten-- fifteen yards,”
Max Kim winced. “I don’t like the sound of that. He’s too sure of himself.”
“Hey, what’s our chances we could beat him?”
Max Kim swallowed the rest of the cookie. “It might not be likely.”
“Come on, why don’t we try, just to see how fast his chair is. I’m curious.”
“Okay Let’s race,” Max Kim said.
Nova and Max Kim hurried fifteen-yards ahead, and Nova said “One, two, three, go!” Nova ran as fast as she could, her feet striking the hard pavement over and over. She watched Max Kim struggling to pass her. Nova pushed harder, not wanting to pace herself. She ended up getting a stitch in her left side. It slowed her down.
“Stupid cookie.”
In a minute, Max Kim whizzed past. He looked back at Nova and laughed.
Benny arrived at the driveway with a twenty-yard lead. Nova grabbed her left side and slowed to a trot. Max Kim was ahead of her, and he made it to Benny before Nova got there, but that was alright. Benny sat at the top of the driveway and waited. When she arrived, and she and Max Kim had caught their breath, they traveled down the gravel driveway together. “I didn’t know your wheelchair was so fast.” Max Kim panted.
“I put in a more powerful motor in it about a week ago for the skate parks.” He laughed. “It’s awesome. I love going over the hills fast enough to catch air.”
It felt spooky going down Leandra’s driveway at night. The crickets seemed louder, and Nova felt as though she was being watched.
When they arrived at the house, Leandra was kneeling in the herb and vegetable garden under a floating yellow light.
“Whoa, what kind of light is that?” Benny asked. She stood up from picking mint leaves and put them into a basket in front of her. "It’s a will o’ wisp from the pond out back. Here’s something you also need to see." In her bare hand was a glowing fireball with fractals in it. Nova remembered the fireball from her dream.
“Aren’t you going to burn yourself?” Nova asked.
“No, I have Neanderthal blood running through my veins, even though I’m from the Lower Echelons.”
"What is it? Is it pure fire?" Benny reached out, then pulled back fast from the heat.
"Don’t touch it if you’re Modern Human. It's a pure fireball. No fuel, no substrate. You'll need to learn to defend yourself against it. That’s why I asked you here."
"What do you mean? Ghosts don't throw fireballs."
"Ghosts don’t, but Nocturnal Ned does. He got away from me the other night, and I haven't been able to find where he’s hiding out."
“Wait,” Nova said. “Nocturnal Ned is just a fraud, a charlatan who pretends to talk to the dead and takes people’s money.”
“It’s a terrific disguise, isn’t it,” Leandra said. “There’s much more to Ned than there seems. You’d be surprised.”
"You mean he was that green glowing monster I saw on the street?"
"Yep, that's him," Leandra said. "I suggest you go to a science supply store and get the equipment you'll need to build a weapon to defend yourselves, at least until Nova's magic is up to snuff."
Later, inside the invisible house, Leandra offered them a snack of delicious, fresh, black raspberry pie with homemade whipped cream. As they ate, the friends brainstormed the most effective way of putting out a fireball. They drew up a diagram of a gun that used vinegar and baking soda in cylinders, which would create a gas inside soap bubbles. The bubbles would surround the fireball and put it out. During the meeting, they made plans to get supplies at Benny's favorite hangout: The science swap fest.
Chapter 18 Supplies
It was a bright sunny day when Benny’s mother agreed to drive the kids in her van to Madison, Wisconsin to the swap fest.
Nova was surprised when they parked in a nearly-empty lot surrounding a huge metal-sided building. When they roamed inside the echoing, cavernous building, they were about the only ones there.
“I thought there would be more people,” Nova said. She almost felt like whispering.
"Yeah,” Benny said. “It used to be that there was a science swap fest in every city every week, but not anymore. Now they are held every couple of months. Of course, I usually buy enough stuff to last me a while, so I'll also be buying other supplies while I'm here."
Vendors, looking lonely, stood behind each table with their wares, and all Benny had to do was wheel down the aisles and pay as he went.
While they shambled and trundled around, the place was jammed packed with stuff. Electronics galore. Nova saw spools of wire, bulbs, switches, motors, little electronic… thingies. She examined minerals and books. Max Kim played with the gears, weights, and pulleys. Laser lights, neon signs and fiber optics screamed for her attention, along with gasses, chemicals, gizmos and ham radio equipment. Nova and Max Kim took turns taking merchandise Benny purchased off of his lap as he wheeled down the aisles -- his mom strolling behind him-- and ran the stuff out to the van. Benny bought a computer monitor, a keyboard, and mouse. He bought Teflon tape and twelve gauge wire. Benny bought wrenches and rubber hose and computer motherboards. He bought light bulbs and video games. He bought triggers, lasers, watches, and telephones. He bought switches, bungee and extension cords, tubes, and bottles and many boxes of other stuff. Nova and Max Kim’s arms were loaded down with so much merchandise and they had worked up a sweat from running back and forth to the van. Finally, they drove off, and Nova and Max Kim could breathe a sigh of relief. Benny’s mom decided to pay them back by pulling over at a custard shop and ordering two scoops for everyone.
Chapter 19 Sleepover
Nova invited Takeesha, Benny and Max Kim to a sleepover at her house. Benny, for the first time, left his autogyro at home and brought instead the not-quite-finished weapon against the fireballs. He sat at the pink homework desk in Nova's bedroom, tightening down some final screws. Max Kim and Nova skip into the kitchen to make salted popcorn as a treat for Shade.
Takeesha had dropped by, but she was wearing a frown, and the friends couldn’t say anything to cheer her up.
“Why didn’t you bring a sleeping bag or change of clothes?” Nova asked.
“Because I don’t want to be here.” She kept wiggling and warily looking around.
Nova felt hurt. Their friendship seemed at an all-time low now. Regardless, The Shade Riders stroll out in the dark to the catch pen. Shade had not flown away and was rolling in the moist dirt. A light rain was falling.
Shade got to her feet, shook off the excess dirt and flapped her wings. She neighed to Max Kim and Nova, who held out the popcorn.
And that was when they found out what was bothering Takeesha.
"I hate this! Why does Nova get everything?"
At first, Nova didn't know how to respond to Takeesha's outburst. She let Max Kim hold the pan of popcorn as she approached Takeesha.
"Look, Takeesha, a flying horse, isn't that terrific. What would happen if I fell off or something? I could get really hurt. Leandra’s paths only make her an adult horse for three hours. If I don’t get off her in time, we both could plummet to Earth and die. Not to mention, she gets out all the time, and I always have to go look for her. What if she gets hit by a car? My mom would get sued."
"Oh come on,” Takeesha said, “You have a flying horse. And you get help with your magic. It's not fair. You know what I mean?"
"Life's not fair,” Nova said. “I've been bothered by bullies for years, and you used to want to hang around with me. I don't know what's going on with you, but you stood me up the night when I went to the dog training class. Then I saw you hanging out with some street kids who were painting the walls of buildings."
