He had soon come to a chamber carved out of the cavern wall, like a private room. Entering the chamber, he had finally located Barney, lying on his side, in a corner. Looking closely, he had been able to see that Barney’s intestines protruded from his stomach, the wound now deep and profound.
In shock and sorrow, he had bent down to pick up his dog. Barney had flinched, finding enough energy to clamp down on Jose’s fingers, out of his mind with pain, severing the thumb. Jose dropped the fatally injured Barney, scooting away on his butt, cursing himself. Any idiot knows not to touch a severely injured dog when it’s in pain. Damn, did it ever hurt. Tears sprang to his eyes from the agonizing pain, blood spurting like a faucet, his head swimming with fogginess. Barney had laid his head back down, as if waiting for death, sorrowful guilty eyes awash in shock.
Out of nowhere, he had felt pressure and noticed a new smell. Sulfur? Looking around, he had seen the most bewitching sight on a ledge, overlooked in his concern for Barney. Yup—Echo—mind blowing, even as his pain had overwhelmed him. He had watched as her glorious tail lingered up in the air over her head. From the end of the tail had come the weirdest mother-effing blob of something. He had felt pressure and tingling in his hand and held it up, doing a double-take as he realized his thumb was no longer missing. A flash of rainbow color had seared his vision, briefly blinding him. As his vision had cleared, a barking Barney stood up on all fours. Yes; on all fours, his tail swinging wildly.
Barney had padded over to Jose, jumping up and putting his paws on his shoulders. He had licked Jose’s face, and then loped over to the ledge where Echo sat. His face had turned up to Echo, whining softly. Echo had stood and scaled down the wall, her skinny body with its fat stomach strikingly graceful. She had approached Barney, tentatively touching his muzzle with a long skinny finger as Barney’s tongue had reached out to give Echo’s finger an exploratory slurp. Together, they had promptly flopped down on the floor and curled up together, kinship clearly established. The pressure and aura had intruded into his mind, whispering the first words from Echo.
“Hello, Brother, I am Sister and I am so happy to see you.”
Jose took a break from his story. Scotty noticed he absently stroked his tail.
“Echo neglected to tell me about the tail on our first meeting. I discovered it on my own, just as you did. Quite a shock, huh?”
Continuing the story, he acknowledged the many meetings he had held with Echo. He had planned to make this meeting the last one, desperate to introduce Echo to Abby. If Echo could heal her, all their problems would be solved. But the discovery of Scotty and his tail changed everything, and he wanted Echo to come and live with them. As soon as the funerals were over and they moved Mama Diaz to Tomas and Kelly’s house, they would come back to the cavern and bring her home. Auras enveloped their minds.
“Sister will live with her Brothers. My Barney will live with us too?”
“Yes, Echo,” Jose said, laughing. “We’ll all live together. Once we get settled, we’ll talk again. We need to know all there is to know about our tails. Scotty, can you wait until we bring Echo home to deal with this?”
Yawning, Scotty agreed. They had come this far, a few days more wouldn’t kill them. A seventeen-year-old boy needs lots of sleep and he wanted to crash. Now that Jose was on the job, most of his anxieties simply disappeared, just like krill at a whale convention. Looking over at Echo, he marveled at the fact that his boyhood fairy was wilder than he could possibly dream. It occurred to him that no one would ever believe this. He noticed Echo poking her leathery finger around inside Barney’s ear, who turned around and wiped Echo’s face with his sloppy tongue. Echo spun her head around a hundred and eighty degrees before it snapped back, then Echo’s feet and hands flew up in the air, rocking her back on her bottom. Auras flashed with gold and rainbow colors as Scotty wondered if Echo could communicate with Barney. He watched as the leathery arms snaked around the delirious dog’s neck, holding tight. Yup, I guess Echo’s right. Barney belongs to her. An interesting development. Echo sure appeared as harmless as a house pet.
Their trek back home proceeded uneventfully, although it cost them extra time to explain to Echo why Barney couldn’t stay with her in the cavern. Her answer to all of their objections: The Womb will provide. Ick. The guys decided they didn’t want to know more about the Womb just yet. Telling Echo they needed Barney for guard-dog duty satisfied her, although she quickly pointed out that the Womb would guard them too. Lovely, Scotty thought. Yup, time to go.
Chapter 8
Organized chaos reigned at Lily Pond Road. The whole neighborhood turned out with cakes, deviled eggs, casseroles and sandwiches. Even neighbors who had never said boo once in the many years they had lived there, brought goodies to the house. The Preston and Diaz families felt honored and grateful, knowing full well their neighbors had little to spare.
The turnout for the funerals impressed everyone. Abby hadn’t realized her mama’s life had touched so many others. Of course, when a youth is lost, many turn out to lament the sadness. And the whole grocery showed up, having lost two popular employees.
The demands on Abby were extraordinary, having missed a vital treatment so she could attend the funeral. She played the gracious hostess, compassionate nursemaid and proficient housekeeper as she tried to mourn her mother’s passing.
Her harried tasks didn’t prevent her from noticing the strange behavior of Scotty and Jose. She frequently noticed their heads together, speaking in cryptic whispers, hushing as she passed to clean around them. What could possibly merit this show of male skullduggery?
Abby supported anything that helped Scotty out of the adolescent sulking that dominated his personality these days, but their behavior irritated her. And what the heck was with the sunglasses—a new fad perhaps?
She wasn’t worried though. She knew the quiet responsible Jose would be a good influence. God knew she could use the help with Scotty. Her eyes lingered on Jose’s wide shoulders as his hand reached up to rake back his unruly black and gold hair with masculine fingers. Gold? Not an attractive combo. Why the strange hairdo? It almost looked like he wanted to follow in Scotty’s footsteps. Someone should tell him the color combination just made him look older.
She knew nothing about seventeen-year-old boys, especially her own secretive brother. She didn’t date at all and had very little exposure as to how the male of the species worked romantically. Gee, where did that come from? Why think about that now?
Unable to stop this train of thought, she reflected on how most guys shied away from her when they found out about her kidney disease. Her classmates had labeled her ‘the sick girl’, not intentionally meaning to be cruel. By the time most girls reached their late twenties, falling in and out of love had become a habit. Unfortunately, Abby’s experience in the romance department sucked. She longed to have an innocent flirtation with a boy. Or a not so innocent one.
The only guys that had ever paid attention to her were Jose, Tomas and Hiro. But they hardly counted. Sighing, she pulled her thick reddish-brown hair back, securing it with an elastic band. Sinking her hands into hot soapy water, she began to wash the dishes.
The guests finally departed. Mama Diaz fussed, almost ready to leave with Tomas and the girls. They had gathered their things last night and laboriously trucked them over to Tomas and Kelly’s house. When they returned, Mama Diaz looked stern and tight-lipped. When Abby tried to question her, she raised her hand to her head, cutting her off. A puzzled Abby, distracted by the funeral preparations, decided to let it go.
Coming up behind her at the sink, Mama Diaz rested her tired head on Abby’s shoulder. Abby’s sudsy hands slipped around the older woman’s waist.
“Please don’t go, I don’t think it’s necessary. The girls should stay here until they finish school.”
Mama Diaz reluctantly shook her head. “I don’t know, Abby. Tomas’s mind is made up. He’s the man of the family now. He insists. Kelly is a bit intense, maybe, don’t
you think?” She began to whisper as she spoke. “Have you met her brother, Armoni? Oh, my dear, he’s a troubled young man.” She made the sign of the cross.
“What do you mean, Mama? What’s wrong with Kelly’s brother?”
Tomas walked into the room, his hand clapping down heavily on his mother’s arm. “Let’s go, Ma.” Turning, he gave Abby a suggestive wink. Freezing him with a cool gaze, she deliberately turned back to Mama Diaz.
“Please call me when you get settled.” Abby sounded frantic. Mama Diaz placed her worn hands on Abby’s face, dabbing her fingers at the lonely tears that tumbled from her desolate eyes. Turning, she reached for her shopworn handbag, fraying at the seams from years of containing the minutia of growing children. She kissed Abby goodbye and allowed Tomas to lead her to the door.
Leaving everyone to settle themselves in the car, Tomas slipped back to the front door, oddly loitering. Abby stood holding the door, waiting for him to leave. He hesitated, then wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close, placing the other on her butt and roughly kissing her. She couldn’t breathe as she struggled in his embrace. Squirming away, she slapped him. They both looked shocked and speechless. Tomas stared at her, saying nothing. His lips twisted into a sneer and a disturbing glint crept into his eyes. Leaving, he gave her breast a rough brush and sauntered out the door.
Two seconds later, Jose and Scotty entered, conspiratorial faces shining. Scotty held something protectively in his arms, wrapped in a shaggy yellow blanket. He went right to his room with the bundle, leaving her alone with Jose who eyed her suspiciously. He took a deeper look at her and knew something was wrong.
“Abby?” He eyed her disheveled appearance, the look on his face unexpectedly tender.
She turned to him, her angry eyes fighting back tears. She just couldn’t find the words to explain. Shaking her head slowly, a few tired tears trickled down her angry face. Flopping down on the sofa that had sheltered a thousand tantrums and childish battles, she collapsed.
“Abby, are you going to answer me?” Jose moved to the sofa and picked up her hands. Her face fell. Softly, Jose rubbed her temples, gently massaging as he turned her face up.
“Abby, tell me,” he whispered, his eyes searching her face. Making up her mind, she haltingly related what had happened, omitting Tomas’s name.
“What? You’ve got to be kidding me.” Jose jumped to his feet and paced. “He had the balls to do this to you in our house, after a funeral? I don’t believe it.” He pounded the palm of his hand with his fist. Angrily, he asked, “Who is the bastard? Just tell me. I’ll take care of this.” Looking up, he saw Scotty return from his bedroom.
“Hey, what’s going on?” Looking from face to face, Scotty waited for an answer. Jose glanced up.
“Is Echo okay?”
“Yeah, she’ll stay put until we need her.”
Abby looked from one to the other. “What? Who’s Echo?”
“Never mind. Abby, you have something you need to tell me.”
Looking into each other’s eyes, she nodded her head and whispered, “Tomas.”
“What—that bastard?” He jumped to his feet. “I’m not surprised.”
Startled, Abby put her hands out to catch him. “What do you mean you’re not surprised, Jose?” Charging to the door, he slammed out of the house and noisily tore down the road, the exhaust on his old red truck pouring gray-white smoke. Shaking her head and sighing sadly, Abby shut the door and returned to the sofa. She pulled her feet up under her, feeling as broken and limp as the sofa looked.
“We don’t need this right now.” Abby rested her head on the sofa, her eyes bruised from fatigue. Scotty joined her, flopping down softly.
“Holy mackerel, what’s that all about? Does it have anything to do with Tomas?”
“Scotty, do you know something about Tomas that I should know?”
“Uh, not really Abby. Although I’ve heard a few things. I never mentioned anything because it didn’t affect us, not now that he lives with Kelly and her weirdo brother.”
“Her brother? This is the first I’ve heard anything about a brother. How come? Does Mama Diaz know about him? Is her brother this Armoni? And what does that have to do with Tomas’s inappropriate behavior?”
“I don’t know, Abby, what’d he do?” Abby could not tell her little brother the particulars of the incident. Changing the subject, she asked him about the blanket he had brought into the house.
Abby laughed as Scotty jumped up, dancing from foot to foot. His eyes flashed, his face shinning.
“Abs, we have the most amazing surprise for you, but we have to wait for Jose.”
“Okay, champ, but maybe it can wait for tomorrow. I’m very happy about anything that’ll put a smile on your face, but . . .” Her voice fading, she rose unsteadily to her feet. “I don’t think I have the strength. Tomorrow, I need to get to the dialysis center first thing in the morning.” Her voice trailed off to a hoarse whisper. Her head throbbing, she walked toward the bedrooms and promptly fainted.
*
“Abby!” Scotty screamed. Without noticing or even thinking, his tail unfurled from underneath his shirt. It stood straight up in the air like a recently promoted soldier, arching over the top of his head and pointing toward Abby. From the bulbous end of his tail came a monstrous, disgusting, membranous, thing that opened up to exude the smell of sulfur. He could feel a numbing pressure. Then, suddenly, it stopped. He started to shake as his tail tucked itself back under his shirt. Praying for Jose to come home, he closed his eyes.
Hearing a small whine, he opened his eyes to see Barney standing in front of him, happily wagging his tail. Astride his back sat Echo, calmly behaving as if she owned the place. Her long leathery fingers locked tight around Barney, her little swivel neck bobbing up and down.
“Oh boy, Jose better get home. There’s going to be fireworks.” Seeing Abby move on the floor, a dead rag doll come to life, he ran to her side. Rubbing her hands, he tried to get her blood moving faster. He needed her to get up and tell him what to do.
The front door rattled open. Relieved, Scotty turned to see Jose, anxiety written all over his face. He took in the scene, starting at Echo’s presence on top of Barney with Abby crumpled and wilted on the floor. He sniffed, catching the left over scent of sulfur.
“You did it—without me? Echo—I thought we would do this together?” Swirling rainbows coalesced, an aura in their minds.
“We have a new Sister. Now there are four of us. Is this what you call a family, Brother?”
Jose and Scotty answered together, “Yes, Echo.”
Jose grimaced, bracing Abby from behind to get her head off the scuffed floor. “Echo, are you speaking to all of us at the same time?”
“Yes, Brother.”
“It would be so much easier if you would use our names. Could you do this?”
“Yes, Brother. Brother Jose, Brother Scotty, Sister Abby. Oh, I like that. Can I call myself Sister Echo, Brother Jose? Should we call my Barney, Brother Barney? No, Barney is not our Brother, he is just my Barney. My Barney. I like that. I will call him My Barney.”
“Echo,” Jose tried to interrupt. The rainbow aura kept going on and on about My Barney, who sat on the sofa with Echo clinging tightly.
“Echo.” He tried again. The rainbows stopped. Echo stared at Abby, who rose unsteadily from the floor. With her hand to her mouth, she stared at Echo, then at Scotty and Jose and back to Echo.
“Am I going out of my mind? I don’t think I can take much more.” She sniffed the air, noticing the scent. “Someone had better start making sense real soon or I’m going to go mad.” Rainbows swirled.
“Hello, Sister Abby. I am Sister Echo.”
Shrinking back, Abby stared at the little golden creature and trembled.
“What is this?” The look on her face was one of stark disbelief. She’s going to blow if we don’t do some explaining fast, Scotty realized.
“It’s all okay.” Stroking Abby’s arm
s softly, Jose tried to keep her calm. Turning to Scotty, he said, “Look guys, we have some explaining to do. This is not how we planned this, Echo, so let me handle it. Abby . . . look at me.” She stared blankly into his eyes, as if he wasn’t there.
“Abby.” Jose shook her. “How do you feel?” He spoke more softly, an expectant smile on his face.
“I feel perfectly fine, thank you.” She still looked confused and frightened. Slowly, the significance of her words sank in. Jose grabbed her, lifting her off her feet in a hug, a happy tear tracing down his face.
“You’re healed, Abby. It’s a gift from Echo.” Scotty jumped up, joining them in the hug. Barney flopped off the sofa, dumping Echo from his back. His joyful barking added to the celebration. Then little Echo righted herself and wobbled her way over to the huddle, trying to squeeze her way in.
Joyfully, Scotty grabbed Echo and tossed her in the air, catching her in a bear hug. All Abby could do was sit back down dumbly on the floor.
When the laughter settled down and everyone sobered up, they gathered around their cheap kitchen table to talk. There was so much to talk about, so much to explain to Abby.
Lifting Echo up onto the table, Jose stroked her golden head.
“You’re amazing, girl.”
Echo’s gleaming antlers reflected light from the ceiling fixture, making them sparkle like crystal. Scotty wondered when Echo might trust them enough to tell them more of her history. And this mystery mission she was on. But Echo was not the kind of creature you could ask questions of, head on. Sometimes speaking to Echo was like speaking to a child. They were on different wavelengths. Maybe Abby could do better over time. Females bonded differently; maybe it would make a difference.
“Okay, handling the nastiest first, I would like to explain the problem with Tomas. Abby, Tomas has this thing for you. He’s had it since we were kids. I don’t think his relationship with Kelly is much more than a convenience. The real relationship is with Kelly’s oddball brother, Armoni. A real nasty S.O.B, Armoni has Tomas under his thumb. Kelly is just cover. They use each other for kicks. She’s meant to keep an eye on Tomas for Armoni.”
Alien Species Intervention: Books 1-3: An Alien Apocalyptic Saga (Species Intervention #6609) Page 23
