by Bxerk
"They’re my new friends. You'll just have to get used to it."
"If they’re getting you to break the law, they’re not your friends," Nova yelled.
"I'll do what I want when I want," Takeesha yelled back.
Takeesha and Nova crossed their arms in front of their chests, clenched their jaws, and stared at each other. “I’m never going to talk to you again,” Takeesha said.
“Fine with me.”
While Max Kim kicked the grass and Benny looked toward the woods, Takeesha stalked back to the house to call her mother to come pick her up.
Chapter 20 The Fort
August— the sweat poured off the three Shade Rider kids as they continued to work on the bubble guns. Nova, Max Kim, and Benny pooled a little money together and bought a steel drum from an old man. They threw some ripped up newspaper in the bottom, lit it, then tried to extinguish the fire. The guns leaked, and soap and baking soda got on everything inside the barrel, making a huge mess. They all peered down inside. No smoke just lots of bubbles.
“Was that a success or not?” Nova pushed away from the barrel.
“How can we tell if the gun extinguished the fire or the leak did?” Max Kim said, then laughed.
“If we can take care of the leaks we will be clash. I’ll check my desk drawers for some rubber o- rings. We can put them on the inside of the bottles on the guns to seal them,” Benny said.
A week later, Benny was back with the revised versions of the guns. That turned out to be the solution they were looking for. The barrel though didn’t work, so they strolled and wheeled to the picnic site that had a campfire pit. They lit a fire and fed it with sticks until the fire with sticks until it was two feet tall and wide. Benny, five feet back, aimed the bubble gun at the fire.
“Wait. Why should Benny put out this fire? I say we take a vote,” Nova said.
“What? No way. I bought the… or my Mom bought the supplies. I should get to do it.”
“No, we need to be fair,” Max Kim began to gather twigs. “We can draw straws.”
The fire burned on as Nova continued to feed it.
“I think we need to gather more wood.”
“My wood gathering is minimal, so you guys get more wood and I’ll put out the fire.” Benny took aim again.
Nova came over near Benny reached out and grabbed the gun. She tried to wrestle it out of his hands. Max Kim jumped over Benny’s shoulder and chair and tried to push Nova’s hands off Benny’s. The gun shot up into the air and bubbles descended onto the two boys heads.
“Nova! Don’t hurt him.”
At Max Kim’s words, Nova noticed how Benny’s shoulders slumped and his passion for holding onto the gun dissolved. Nova ended up with the weapon, but she didn’t want to shoot it anymore.
“Here, take it,” Nova said to Benny.
“I don’t want it.”
“Won’t anyone shoot it?” Max Kim asked, “We won’t have a fire for much longer.”
He got off of Benny and put his sticks into the fire.
“Fine give it to me. Max Kim move,” Benny said.
Max Kim jumped out of the way. Benny took aim and fired. The gun spat out bubbles full of carbon dioxide that floated toward the fire and burst. The flames struggled to stay alive. He moved back and forth as he shot. The fire heaved a final farewell as it died. Nova and Max Kim jumped for joy, and Benny whooped and hollered.
“Well, you guys, I think it is ready to be taken over to Leandra's house and tried on some real flying fireballs.” Nova grabbed the matches and leftover newspaper and they started to head for the house.
Before they entered the catch pen, Benny said, “Huddle up. I need to say something.”
They stopped walking and surrounded Benny. Nova watched as the breeze tickled the blob of bubbles on Benny’s and Max Kim’s head. She giggled.
“What? Why are you laughing?” Benny swiped at a drip rolling down his face, and he looked at his hand. He rubbed his thumb over his fingers. He looked over and saw Max Kim shaking bubbles out of his hair. “Do I have bubbles on MY head?”
“Yes!” Nova said, and Max Kim laughed.
Benny wiped his hair with his hand. “I wanted to say that we need a secret place to call Leandra now that the weapon is ready.”
“I know,” Nova said, “How about we build a hay fort?”
“It can be a maze,” Max Kim said, “with hidden doors.”
“Let’s get some paper and design something,” Benny said.
The three kids entered the farmhouse and Max Kim and Benny sat at the dining table. Nova left the room to get some paper and pencils. After they had jotted some ideas down amid excited talking, they passed the papers around and discussed what they would like to add.
“Unexpected trapdoors,” Max Kim said.
“Dead ends to confuse intruders,” Nova said.
“Look, I don’t think either one of you has considered that I’m in a wheelchair. I need to be able to get into this.”
“Sorry, Benny,” Nova said, “Sometimes we forget. I’ll go back to the drawing board and come up with an idea we can all use.”
Max Kim sighed. He looked at his drawing and then at Benny’s. “You know we might be able to use a little of everyone’s ideas to make a much better hide out.”
“Okay, I guess we can try,” Benny said shoving his hair away from his eyes. Nova nodded. They all set to work drawing up new plans.
When they were satisfied, they climbed to the haymow and started removing the stairs and all the bales underneath to get to the wooden floor, which they swept off the loose hay. They scanned the drawings, then started working, stacking the hay two bales high. They put boards on top to hold up a huge old heavy rug that they found under all the bales of hay.
They beat the dusty rug with sticks until they were covered with a fine gray dust. When they were satisfied that they couldn’t get more dust off-- and their arms were sore-- they lay the rug across the boards on top of the meeting room part of the maze. For the rest of the fort, they just covered the top with bales. After the maze was complete, they stacked the bales up as though the stairs were never taken down. The interior became dark, quiet, and secret.
Nova ran down the grassy hill ramp next to the barn and into the front. She found Benny working on an elevator that would lift him into the hay maze.
“Okay, the meeting room is ready for you.” Nova ran back up in the haymow and crawled through the maze into the meeting room, where Max Kim was and waited for Benny to come up. Below the platform was a stall that couldn’t be used because it didn’t have a door. Benny rolled onto the platform in the barn stall. He reached down, and placed a rubber belt on the special metal wheel on the wheelchair motor. The motor lifted him through the chute and up into the hay fort. The platform covered up the hay chute opening so no one could see above their heads into the fort. It was secure from any spies, who might try to listen in. The meeting room in the fort was spacious. Inside were hay benches and a table. Sometimes they had to open a big window to let fresh air in because inside it was stifling hot. Also, the lookout had to be on alert for any unwanted ears.
The three kids put the digital watch on the hay table and called for Leandra. A beautiful blue eye looked out from the red glowing crystal.
“Hi Leandra, that’s you, right?” Nova said.
"Yes, hello sprogs, do you have the weapon done?" Leandra said.
"Yeah, and it works great!" Benny said, "Now I want to try it on some real fireballs."
"Bring it down. I want to have a look," Leandra said.
“All of them?” Nova said.
“You have more than one? Sure, bring them all, Ta ta.”
It was late afternoon, early evening, by the time the three Shade Riders arrived at Leandra’s house. She met them out in the garden.
She looked over the guns and nodded. “They look impressive enough. Let’s try them out.”
She called up a fireball in the palm of her hand. The fractals inside l
eaped angrily. Leandra tossed it in her hand a couple times then threw it down her driveway. Nova, Max Kim, and Benny chased after it and put it out. “Too easy.” Benny grinned as he trundled, and they skipped back, though Nova’s confidence screamed, You’re not ready.
The kids entered Leandra’s house. "Did you find Nocturnal Ned yet?" Nova asked.
"I've not seen hide or hair of him for a while, but… well, his timing couldn’t be any better," Leandra said with a touch of laughter in her voice.
Nova took a deep breath and swallowed hard. Nocturnal Ned came down the driveway, and he didn’t look like a harmless fraud.
Chapter 21 Part Neanderthal
Nova and everyone else watched through Leandra’s window as Ned rode down the driveway on a Harley. He was dressed in black leather his chap's fringe flapping in the wind. Then without warning, Ned transformed into iridescent pink, and then grew into the iridescent green glowing monster. Benny and Max Kim gasped. Ned’s black leather creaked and tore asunder, flapping in the breeze.
“Crap!” Ned yelled. “Ahlon, that was my good leather. Why did you do that?” Ned stopped the bike, which now look like a toy, at the end of the driveway and looked around. “Damn, damn, damn,” Ned yelled punching his now exposed muscular green leg over and over.
“Stay here and keep your eyes open,” Leandra said. Then left her house by the back way and made her way around Ned. Less than a minute later, she crept out of the bushes behind him, got her arm around his thick neck, and slapped a sticky patch to his shoulder. Ned struggled, but his pink color and size were returning to normal.
“All right, kids,” Leandra said, “you can come out now.” They gathered around; Nova stood in front of the bike.
“Hey Hulk, looks like you’re Bruce Banner again,” Nova said.
Ned stared her in the eyes. His face was so close she could smell his garlic breath.
Leandra pulled him back by his shoulder. “So Ned, just how do you contact your master, Ahlon?”
--Just then, Nova heard a tiny voice coming from Ned’s left index finger. “Dear Vulcan, what do we have here?” She lifted Ned’s hand and showed everyone. “There’s a voice coming from the cut on his finger.”
Ned yanked his hand away. “Don’t touch me, girl. I cut myself. Your stupid mother still owes me respect and money,” Ned pointed at Nova’s chest. “I know now you don’t belong here. You’re half Neanderthal and need to go back where you came from.”
Nova put her hands on her hips. Her brows furrowed, and her eyes narrowed.
“So, that cut is how you throw fireballs and change into a monster?” Leandra said.
But it was beginning to make sense to Nova.“He must have got a message from Ahlon when my mom and I went in for a séance. He threw half of the message he scribbled under his chair and wouldn’t let us see it.”
They saw a slight nod from Ned.
“And he wants you to pay for that?” Leandra said. “Okay, What are you here for, Ned? What do you want?”
The tiny voice coming from his finger was beginning to sound like a rant.
“Ahlon is watching, and you will all die,” Ned said.
“Yeah, so what,” Benny said. “Anything can kill you, what of it?”
With a quick move that caught them all off guard, Ned reached for the patch and ripped it off. He burst into an even bigger green monster. “So be it.” He tried to grab Leandra before she could apply another patch.
Leandra ducked and burned his hand with a fireball.
“Take cover now!”
The Shade Riders with their bubble gun scattered into the trees.
Chapter 22 Fireballs
Nova, Max Kim, and Benny ducked behind big oak trees that ran along the driveway. Nova never took her eyes off the green glowing monster standing next to the skull painted motorcycle. Oddly, Nova could hear the birds singing as she waited.
Leandra moved so she was blocking the driveway. "Do your worst, Ned!"
"If that's how you want it.” Ned flung a fireball the size of a basketball at Leandra's head. She moved out of the way. The fireball flew down the driveway, flaming out near the road on the gravel leaving a pile of black ash.
Leandra lobbed another one at Ned and leaped over bushes in the woods. Ned threw one right toward her head, and shrubbery caught on fire. Max Kim jumped out in time and began shooting bubbles at it. The gun put the fire out completely.
Leandra threw one at Ned, and it bounced off and hit the motorcycle seat. Whoosh! It burst into flame.
Ned cried and began to bat the seat with his big green hands. Finally, he fell onto the seat to put it out.
He stood up like a ramrod. His chest was charred black, blistered. He began to throw fireballs again. Nova saw tears running down his face. She would have felt some compassion for him if a fireball hadn’t come straight for her head.
She dodged to the left, but the fireball clobbered her hand. She didn’t feel anything, but it knocked her weapon out of reach in the thistles in front of her. As she reached for the gun, she noticed Max Kim catch and magically levitate a fireball right in front of his face. Then he made some dramatic moves with his hands like he was petting the fireball. Then he reached for his bubble gun like a cowboy, and the flame dropped to bubbly black ash on the ground before him at his feet.
“Clash!” Nova whispered. She had no idea Max Kim could do such amazing magic tricks.
Leandra threw another fireball that hit the back of Ned’s head. It oozed down his shoulders and back like lava down the side of a volcano. Ned turned around and erupted with a roar. He whipped a fireball at Leandra, who ducked, then moved to a better position behind a tree. Nova grabbed her gun and ran to put out the fireball on the tree where Leandra had been standing a moment ago.
Nova watched a fireball light a fire near Benny. He wheeled over to it a little too close. One of his wheels caught on fire. He franticly rolled back and forth putting it out, but Nova heard the pop when the tire blew. “Damn it. One of my wheels is gone.”
Leandra threw another fireball at Ned, who blocked it with his forearm and threw one back. Nova put out one near an apple tree. Leandra had the kids putting out fireballs everywhere as she ducked and weaved and threw fireballs from behind trees.
The woods would have been ablaze if it weren't for the bubble guns. Leandra was doing some damage to Ned too, as she stayed just inside the forest. His motorcycle kept getting hit. He stamped around, threw his arms about, and screamed. “Hey, damn it, it’s brand new.”
Then Nova’s watch buzzed. “Nova, this is Leandra. I’m pretty sure that motorcycle is going to explode, so take cover.”
“Right.”
Nova used her Walkie Talkie to call the boys to get ready.
Suddenly, Ned’s hand climbed high into the air. Nova thought his bandage flew off, but it happened so fast she couldn’t tell. Ned grabbed his hand and winced as a burst of light slammed out of his finger and flew into the sky. He brought his hand down, and his finger bled freely.
Ned's monster body beneath his tattered clothes had finally begun to shrink again. He was a dark gray color from all the burns on his body. He had enough. He stomped, kicked the gravel, and threw a fist in the air with a final rude gesture to everyone. And finally, he took off down Leandra's driveway on his badly charred bike with two flat tires. The Shade Riders cheered. Leandra panted and grinned. "Okay, that concludes today’s lesson. And I think you all earned A’s.
Chapter 23 Takeesha
It was late afternoon after dinner. Nova was in the hay fort alone, holding the watch to her face. "Leandra, are you there? Leandra come in.”
“Arvo, mate. What’s up?”
“May I come to your house again today and age Shade so we can work together?"
"Sure. I'm not going to be there, so be careful. Ned might stop by again.”
“Thanks,… um, mate.” Nova watched as Leandra winked at her
she thought it was a wink- and blinked out. Nova crawled out of the ha
y fort and ran to get her horse with a bucket of sweet feed.
When she brought Shade to the hitching post and tied her
up, she realized she was going to have to carry the saddle and bridle too. But then, it only took a moment to come up with a solution. Shade skittered aside as Nova tried to throw the saddle and blanket onto the small filly’s back. She was successful and tightened the cinch around the horse’s ribs to hold the saddle on. Shade tried to pull back from the tightening of the cinch by jerking on the hitching post. Then she settled down when Nova gave her some grain.
She heard the door creak open on the house. Wilha poked her head out, then began to laugh. “Why don’t you try that saddle on Belle while you’re at it?”
Nova stuck her tongue out and started walking Shade up the driveway.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going over to Leandra’s house to work on Shade.”
“Well, she’s not big enough to take a saddle or bridle.”
“It’s just the weight I’m concerned with right now.”
“Whatever.” Wilha stuck her head back inside and closed the door. Nova raced over to Leandra's house with Shade and sauntered her filly down the ley line path to make her bigger. She loosened up the cinch just enough for growth. Nova climbed on her back and let her walk around the yard, careful not to let her in Leandra’s garden. Shade was a fast learner. She accepted the western saddle with Nova’s weight and the bridle in no time. Nova had packed a lunch sharing an apple core with Shade. She rode around in the yard and the recently harvested cornfield nearby until it was dusk. Shade began to shrink in size. Nova quickly jumped off her back and took her up the trail again then back down it just before she spouted her wings. At the very end of the trail, Nova jumped back when her wings sprouted out of her body. Suddenly, Shade ran down the long driveway with Nova running alongside. She took off into the night sky. Nova clung on and pulled herself up into the saddle.
