by Jools Louise
He tried not to blush but heard Skull’s low chuckle and knew the man was watching him still.
“Ooh, Uncle Kaden’s here,” Murray shouted. He scrambled to his feet in excitement as Kaden came in, smiling at everyone as they said hi. David rolled his eyes at this new interruption, then went a little light-headed as he saw who was with Kaden. Sketch. His third mate. In a wheelchair being pushed by Slade, one of Kaden’s biker crew friends.
“Hi,” he said faintly, swallowing hard. Sketch looked vital and gorgeous despite his hospital pallor after weeks in the hospital.
“Hey, guys,” Sketch said cheerfully, looking tired but happy. David studied him, seeing the paleness of his skin, and the dark shadow of stubble on his face. The face that was now devoid of the wire pins and cage that had kept the broken bones in place. “I’ve escaped,” he added, laughing at David’s dazed expression.
“How are you?” David asked huskily, unable to look away. The cast on Sketch’s leg was much smaller, with a built-in boot so he could walk around.
With a flourish, Sketch responded to David’s question by standing up carefully, then limping forward until he was nose to nose with David. “Now for a taste,” he said, his eyes liquid pools of desire. David took a startled breath, then groaned as his lips were taken in a sultry, sexy, stunningly tender kiss that had his toes curling and his heart thumping double time.
The children all began clapping, with Candy and Murray squealing loudly and bouncing up and down. “Ooh, that’s so sweet,” Candy said, giggling.
“Children, children,” Skull said, clapping his hands sharply and settling them back down. “Let’s not go crazy,” he added, smiling as they giggled. “It’s just a kiss, no need for theatrics.” They laughed even louder. “Now, judging by my watch, it’s time for some lunch. If that’s okay with David, that is.”
David nodded, his brain cells reeling from the kiss. He cleared his throat. “Has everyone finished their spellings?” he asked. He got nods all around. “Moe, sweetie, did you manage okay?” he asked his youngest student, and got a hesitant nod in response and then a headshake. Easing away from Sketch, he went to see how the little boy was getting on. Moe was the half-brother of Sherman, found only a few weeks ago at an abandoned mine over in Colorado. He was a cutie. He and his older brother Flint were in this class. Flint was a pistol but sometimes stopped Moe from asking for help, a remnant from when their father, Daniel, had beaten them for wanting to learn. The man was now incarcerated and would never be a free man again, but David knew that a father’s influence could be tough to shake off. The man had ruled his children by fear, a powerful motivator.
“Hey, Moe, are you struggling?” he asked gently, crouching beside Moe’s chair.
“I can’t remember my letters,” the little boy said, his lower lip trembling. “Everyone else can remember, but I’m stupid, so I can’t do it.”
David frowned at that. “Moe, you certainly are not stupid,” he said, glancing around the class and wondering who could possibly have put that into the boy’s head. “Sometimes it takes a little longer to get there, but you’re doing really well.”
“I keep mixing up my d’s and b’s,” Moe said, tears in his eyes. “And I know they’re wrong because they don’t look the same as everyone else’s.” David had given the boy some really basic spellings to practice with. Since Moe was only three and a half, David certainly wasn’t pushing him to get everything right.
Light dawned then, and David looked at Flint, who sat opposite, his face downcast guiltily. “Flint, you haven’t been mean to Moe, have you?” he asked carefully, knowing the two boys had been through hell but needing to nip anything like this in the bud. He wouldn’t tolerate any bullying, no matter what the reason. This week, he’d heard Flint make sharp remarks to his brother, quelling the boy’s mischievous spirit when Moe began to relax and behave the way a little boy should at the age of three. Moe seemed to shrivel up before the criticism and had been too quiet, something David was determined to sort out.
“No, sir,” Flint said tearfully. “I wasn’t mean, sir,” he added. “Moe asked me to show him my letters, and I did, and his were wrong, so I told him.”
Standing, David looked at the class, who was listening to every word. “Why don’t you go and show Kaden, Skull, and Sketch where the lunch room is, guys?” he suggested. “Moe, Flint, and I will be along in a little while. Make sure you get your correct juices from the fridge, and don’t mix up your lunch boxes—too much drama,” he said with a direct stare at Murray and Blue, who frequently played pranks on their classmates or simply decided that their lunches looked less appetizing than someone else’s. The little minxes gave him a cheeky thumbs-up, and judging by their wide-eyed innocent looks, he figured that there may just be drama after all. If Candy didn’t get her strawberries, she was going to kick off big-time. David didn’t get why the boys did what they did, but it certainly kept him on his toes trying to keep up with the little jokers.
The children departed noisily, and David gathered up the spellings that each child had left on their desks. “Why don’t we have a seat on the cushions?” he said, inviting the brothers over to the beanbags that were crowded in the far corner, away from the desks.
The boys followed him, and David sprawled on one of the bags, a bright-red one with a furry cover. It sank under his weight, molding to his butt as he relaxed his body, showing the boys that he wasn’t angry or upset, keeping his body language calm and open. He fixed Flint with a look, seeing that the six-year-old was still upset, two tears trailing down his soft cheeks.
“Hey, Flint, do you feel like talking to me?” David asked gently.
Flint shrugged, staring at his feet, which were clad in a pair of smart brown lace-up shoes. He wore tan jeans and a blue T-shirt with Two Spirit School on the front.
“He wasn’t mean to me,” Moe piped up tremulously. “He’s just trying to protect me,” he added, smiling at Flint.
Flint’s tears flowed even faster, his lower lip wobbling as he sniffled as quietly as he could. David could see the marks around his neck, faded now, from where his father had placed iron collars around their necks, with sharp spikes on the inside, rubbing brutally against their soft flesh. David remembered his first sight of the boys, six brothers who had been nearly starved to death by a man who used them as collateral to get their mother to obey his orders. Kathleen had refused to comply and had nearly died herself trying to help her sons. David couldn’t imagine how difficult it must be for her children to get over this. He knew from his own dark past that it would take years before they truly got over it, and they would never forget it.
“When I was a lot younger, I was taken from my parents and placed in a petting zoo,” David said, keeping his voice low and calm, telling the story as though it had no connection to him. He heard Flint sniffle, and then a tiny giggle from Moe, quickly shushed by his brother. “It’s okay, Flint; it does sound pretty funny. Me, in a zoo.” He laughed, as well, and saw Flint relax slightly. “I’m a mountain lion shifter, and my dad was a nasty, nasty man. He didn’t like the fact that I was a shifter, and he thought we were freaks of nature. He sold me to the zoo, would you believe, but kept a close eye on me over the years.” David paused for a second, remembering how hard it had been.
“Were you kept in a cage?” Moe asked, crawling over to snuggle against David.
“Yes, a small cage. There were others there, too, and when the visitors would come, we were petted and stroked and made to run around on a leash and have photos taken of us.” He shuddered dramatically. “The tourists had sticky hands, and the children were never that gentle. The zoo owners drugged us and made us feel sick, so I threw up a lot.” He grinned. “The visitors didn’t like that part.”
Flint let out a startled laugh. “Did you get it on their shoes?” he asked, smiling.
“Shoes, handbags, trousers…anywhere I could reach,” David replied with a grin. “It got me out of having to be stroked if I was sick.”
The boys giggled, nodding.
“How did you escape?” Flint asked curiously.
David smiled again. “I bit my dad, really hard, on his arm. He hit me, but I held on and hurt him. I think I broke his wrist. He opened the cage to punish me, and I got past him, and I ran as fast as I could. My uncle, Simon, who I had thought was my dad, had once told me to come here, to Two Spirit Ranch, if I ever needed help. That’s where I met Joe.”
“Big Joe?” Moe asked. “He’s funny. He’s your dad, too, isn’t he?”
David nodded, ruffling Moe’s hair gently. “He is. He’s been there for me, you know, like a father should. He’s kind and strong but doesn’t let me get away with anything that I shouldn’t be doing.”
“He tells you off?” Flint asked, sounding startled at the thought. “But you’re big now.”
“Yeah, but I did some silly things when I was younger,” David admitted. “Me and some friends borrowed a truck and drove over to where the zoo was, wanting to get some payback. We probably would have been badly hurt if Joe hadn’t sent backup to help us. He chewed me out real good when I got home. I was grounded for a month.”
Moe giggled.
“I get time-outs if I’m naughty,” he said cheerfully. “But Mom doesn’t usually need to do that often.”
David smiled at the boy. “She loves you a lot,” he said.
“We love her, too,” Flint said, and Moe nodded in agreement. “We’re moving into the new house soon. Cody and Thomas and Sherman are nearly done building it, and we’re going to a big furniture store to choose what we want for our bedrooms.”
David saw the excitement on their faces. “That sounds like fun.”
“I want a dinosaur in mine,” Moe said. “Sherman said I could have one so long as it didn’t damage the new furniture.”
Flint shot his brother a look and opened his mouth, his gaze laser sharp. David preempted his attempt at censure, not wanting to dim the laughter in Moe’s eyes.
“That sounds like fun. What color will your dinosaur be?” he asked, genuinely interested.
“There’s a big purple one on the television,” Moe said, wrinkling his nose comically. “But that’s just silly. Dinosaurs aren’t pink. They’re green or brown or maybe black,” he said, nodding firmly.
“I have a book on dinosaurs if you’d like to see it,” David said. Moe’s eyes widened with excitement. “It’s on the big bookshelf, just over there,” he added. “How about you go see if you can find it? It has a picture of a dinosaur on the spine.”
Moe nodded and scrambled up before racing over to the bookcase. He stared intently at all the books, using his little finger to help him read, trying to find the right book.
“Flint, your dad isn’t here now,” David murmured gently, seeing the instant fear that sprang into the boy’s eyes. “He’s in prison, where he’ll be for a very long time.”
“But he can send letters,” Flint said, alarming David. Daniel had been getting to Flint somehow, was even now trying to hurt his children.
“Has he sent you a letter?” David asked. Flint nodded, and David frowned, wondering how the boy had managed to receive a letter without anyone else knowing about it. “Did someone from this town give you a letter?” he asked. Flint nodded again, swallowing hard, before reaching into the front pocket of his trousers and fishing out a crumpled piece of paper.
“A man in a wheelchair gave me this,” he said. “He told me that my daddy loves me very much, and that I shouldn’t forget all the lessons I’ve been taught. That I need to make sure Moe doesn’t do anything stupid to embarrass our father, even when he’s so far away.” Flint looked up, his eyes stark with terror. “The man said if I don’t obey, there will be “severe consequences”.”
David felt sick. There were a few men in wheelchairs in town, but he had the feeling he might know the one who had done this to Flint. John had warned everyone that there was a new evil in town and to be on the alert for danger. “May I read the letter?” he asked carefully, and the boy handed it over, trembling like a leaf.
Five, you and your brothers are far away from me, but I still have your best interests at heart. Your mother is only one woman and will struggle now that I’m not there. I want you to know that even though I can’t see you, I’m still watching over you, all of you. Six is getting out of hand, isn’t he? Taking lessons, and trying to cause trouble. You may need to be firm with him to make sure he behaves the right way. We don’t want anyone to think he’s stupid, do we? Five, I’m sure I will be able to visit soon. So make sure that when I do, there is no need for me to discipline any of you. My friend Ghost will help you if you need it. Don’t disappoint me. Your loving father. Daniel.
Flint was crying by the time David finished reading, and David opened his arms, then held on tight once the boy crawled onto his lap. He didn’t say a word, just let Flint cry it out.
“What happened?” Moe asked fearfully. David saw the dinosaur book in the boy’s small hands and smiled.
“You got the book. Well done, Moe. Bump?” He lifted his fist and Moe grinned back, knocking their fists together gleefully. “Your brother just got a little upset, dude. Shall we read him a story to make him feel better?”
Moe nodded enthusiastically. “This one has really good pictures in it.”
“How about you tell us both what the pictures are all about?” David said, then laughed when Moe clambered awkwardly onto the beanbag and opened the big book, trying not to hit Flint in the head. He folded the letter carefully, a little awkwardly since he had the two brothers beside him, and looked up as he heard a sound. He blinked in surprise as he saw Kaden come into the classroom. He saw the quiet rage in the man’s face and knew he’d heard what had just happened. David held out his hand and handed the letter to Kaden. He listened to Moe with one ear, stroking Flint’s hair soothingly, and watched the sick knowledge enter Kaden’s eyes. They shared a look, and Kaden turned to leave, his anger evident in every inch of his body as he palmed his cell phone and began to speak quietly into it as he left the room.
“Wow! That one looks pretty fierce,” David said to Moe, looking at a picture of a Tyrannosaurus rex. “Do you know what that one’s called?”
Flint sniffled, his sobs abating somewhat, his curiosity piqued. He lifted his head and sniffed again, hard, his face red and damp, his dark-gold eyes shimmering with unshed droplets of sadness. “That’s a T-Rex,” he said. “They were the fiercest predator in the whole world at one time.”
“They ate the really big dinosaurs,” Moe whispered, wide eyed. “Like this one.” He turned the page to show a brontosaurus.
“This one is pretty cute,” David said, pointing to a small one with a beak and leathery wings.
“That one looks like Big Bird without feathers.” Flint giggled, sniffing again.
David found a tissue in his pocket and helped the boy blow his nose, smiling at the description. “Yeah, Big Bird would look pretty funny without feathers, wouldn’t he?” he said, and heard Moe’s infectious chuckles as the little boy began to pull silly faces and flap his arms.
“Flint, I think Moe is doing a pretty good job at imitating Big Bird,” he said, chuckling.
“Yeah, he’s funny,” Flint said. He smiled at his brother, who made even more noise in response. Then he looked fearful again. “I don’t want anything bad to happen to Moe,” he said, shuddering. “He’s my brother. He shouldn’t have to be scared. He’s only little.”
David met his gaze and infused as much sincerity as he could into his voice. “Flint, you’re with people who will do everything they can to stop anything bad happening to you or any of your brothers, ever again. Even your father. We’ll take care of the man who handed you that letter, and we’ll make sure nobody contacts you again like that.” He saw Flint’s hesitant nod and hugged him again. “You have a lot of friends here, at the ranch and in Sage. If you’re scared, or if someone does or says something that makes you afraid, you tell me or your brother Sherman, or any one
of us, okay?” Flint nodded again.
“Daddy is mean,” Moe said in his sweet little voice and clambered over David’s legs to give his brother a kiss and a hug. “We don’t like mean people, do we, Flint?” The older boy shook his head, smiling as he embraced the three-year-old. “If he makes you scared again, I’ll bite him.” He nodded emphatically to emphasize the point.
“If he scares any of you again, I’ll bite him, as well,” David responded, then grinned as the pair giggled again. They turned back to the book, and Flint looked a lot happier. David’s thoughts were not quite so sunny, and he vowed to stop Daniel, one way or another. The bastard was a monster, sending a menacing letter to a six-year-old, for fuck’s sake, trying to act as though he were a caring father. David knew if he ever met the bastard, he’d rip the man’s throat out and stomp on his poisoned heart. He hoped that Ghost, the one who had carried out Daniel’s nasty little task, got what was coming to him, too. The man may be wheelchair bound, but that didn’t excuse him terrorizing a little boy.
Chapter Four
Kaden had rarely felt as angry as he was at that moment, after reading a letter that threatened a little boy’s life under the guise of protective parenting. He knew that Daniel was out of reach, but was more than happy to take on one of the bastard’s minions. Ghost. He sneered at the name, thinking the man was a truly epic actor. For weeks now, he had played his part to perfection, helping out in town, pretending to be everyone’s friend, while in reality he was playing them all, just another bad seed spreading his poison.
He strode into the hall where the basketball court was located, and saw Ghost knocking wheels with some of Kaden’s own crew, with John and Cody on the opposing team. Ethan must be running the café today, giving John some practice time as the trials for the tournament drew to a close. They were less than two weeks away from the opening ceremony, everything in place, and the teams were all working like crazy to get ready. The tournament was as much about taking part as it was a competition, no matter how experienced a person was. Some of the contenders had done no sports at all until they signed up for the games. Now they had a united, friendly community of sportsmen and sportswomen, all geared up to make Two Spirit Tournament a triumph.
