“How did you know that I know?’ Avery asked.
“Oh, silly little lark,” Ms. Bavol said, bopping Avery on the nose with her finger, “the Ora Gateway has been used. Your parents and I, true Orcatians, felt it inside.” She pounded her fist to her chest, “Like a string pulling us to home.
“Alright,” Avery smiled politely, not really sure what Ms. Bavol was telling her and not really wanting to hear any more of it, “is Skylar here?”
Ms. Bavol swooshed her arms back and forth inside the door jam, imitating a breezy dance, “My daughter of the wind is partaking in her other calling at dance practice.”
Avery scolded herself for not trying to reach Skylar at dance practice first. Skylar was at dance practice more often than she was at her own home; if Avery would have thought of that she could have avoided Ms. Bavol’s awkward insights into her life.
Avery thanked Ms. Bavol and made her way back to her car. When she reached her car she found Bunny beginning to doze off in the passenger seat, her open book lying on her lap.
When Avery sat down she closed her car door hard enough to wake Bunny up.
“Where’s Skylar?” Bunny asked, rubbing the fresh sleep out of her eyes.
“Where do you think?” Avery answered, starting the car.
“Her precious practice.” Bunny mumbled, “Next time,” she yawned, “don’t wake me up unless you need me.”
Avery pulled up in front of Saguaro Dance Hall, a large red brick building with two purple and green awnings over the arched entrance way and a bright pink neon sign flashing the studio’s name. The building not only served as a dance studio for many of the girls, and two or three boys from the town, but it also served as a bingo hall every Thursday night, and a senior citizens line-dancing club every Friday.
Leaving Bunny in the car, Avery opened up the building’s front doors and walked through the over-plush sitting area, filled with crimson colored cushioned chairs and couches, and deep purple wallpaper with tacky velvet paisley lining.
She walked into the main wood-floored dance hall, and the first thing Avery noticed was an image of herself on the mirror-lined wall opposite her.
“Oh, my, God!” Avery said aloud, momentarily forgetting everything except the image in front of her “I look vomit worthy!”
Her hair was completely untamed, even more so than usual, with auburn curls sticking out in every direction. To make matters even worse, as she turned her head a bit, she saw she had a small twig caught up in one of her misbehaving curls. Avery cursed everyone she had seen that day who had failed to mention the offending twig. Her jeans were covered in grass stains from falling out of the gateway onto the ground and her purple plaid shirt had a tear in the pocket revealing a peek at her pink bra underneath.
“Now I actually do look like I’ve come back from the dead.” She said mournfully as she reached up and pulled the twig out of her hair.
Avery yelled at herself to try and snap out of it. She told herself there were more important things to do like find Skylar and save the Universe, that what she looked like didn’t matter, but deep down she was contemplating whether or not she had time to go home and get changed. In mid-contemplation she spotted Skylar pirouetting across the long wooden dance floor.
Skylar was the most talented dancer in all of Redemption. In fact, some town members speculated in all of Arizona. She had been dancing since she was old enough to walk, and her one dream was to travel to New York after high school and pursue a career as a professional dancer. Everyone expected her to accomplish it; she was that good. Skylar had the skill, and she had the looks. She was beautiful, incredibly tall and slender, with long, wavy, electric blond hair and wide violet eyes highlighted by dark lashes.
Despite Skylar’s angelic appearance and ballerina poise, she was definitely the wildest and craziest person Avery had ever known in her entire life. In the eighth grade, she had flashed a bus full of choir boys in town to give a Christmas performance at the local Catholic Church. At the end of semester dance her freshman year, Skylar had somehow managed to take three different boys as her dates, and even more amazing was the fact that she was able to keep it a secret from all three of them. That is, until the next Monday at school, when Bunny spread the truth all over campus, and the boys got suspended for trying to kill each other in the middle of the cafeteria.
One of the things that Avery loved about Skylar was that she brought out Avery’s wild side. Whether it was ditching school to drive down to Phoenix and hit the dance clubs early, dying their hair the most ridiculous shade of pink or just skinny dipping in Sandy Gulch Creek, Skylar was always behind it.
Even Jade was a fan of Skylar’s, although she always got anxious about Skylar and Avery spending time alone together. Especially, since two years ago Skylar had suggested horseback riding through Rattlesnake canyon and Avery’s horse had spooked, tossed Avery, and broke her wrist. Jade had been furious, but Avery didn’t mind and two weekends later she was back hanging out with Skylar, Dune Buggying through the desert.
“Skylar!” Avery shouted, wincing as her voice echoed throughout the dance hall.
Skylar stopped mid-pirouette and turned to face the disheveled looking Avery.
“Avery?” Skylar said, looking surprised at first, but then abruptly busting out into a roar of a laugh, “Why do you look like you just went through a garbage disposal?”
Avery reached up and tried to straighten out her hair, to no great success. Again, she had to tell herself to ignore Skylar’s comment and ignore her appearance.
Skylar walked over to Avery, away from the rest of her dance class, “What’s going on?” She asked.
“Hey, Sky,” Avery said awkwardly, “I was wondering if you could come with me right now to the park by the school?”
Skylar squealed, startling Avery, “Are the Sunshine County Fire Fighters doing their work-out routines there again?” Skylar lightly jumped up and down in her excitement.
“Ummm…that would be a no.” For a second Avery thought she should have said yes. In fact, she thought that might excite Skylar more than a gateway to another world, “Look, I promise that what I have to show you will be just as equally interesting.”
“Alright,” Skylar agreed, always up for a surprise and a good time, “just let me go grab my stuff.”
Avery waited for Skylar in the parking lot. Once Skylar was changed and ready she met Avery out by her car. Avery suggested that Skylar just drive her own car and follow Avery out to the park. Avery was always in the mindset that the more people with their own transportation the better. So, Skylar piled herself and her stuff into her yellow Volkswagen Beetle and followed Avery to the park.
When they reached the park, Avery could see Jade’s bike parked up alongside the curb; she pulled up behind it and Skylar behind her. She got out of the car and saw Jade leaning up against a tree, her hands stuffed into the pockets of her fitted leather jacket, and Sasha sitting on a picnic table nearby, chatting away into her phone.
“Was’ up Kai!” Skylar shouted, walking up to Jade and giving her a side hug.
Jade smiled despite herself, the way she always did around Skylar, “Sky.” She said and then nodded towards Bunny in a much less friendly manner, “Bunny.”
Bunny nodded back along with a small hand wave.
“So, when’s the big reveal?” Skylar asked, “What are we all doing here,” she rubbed her hands together, “the anticipation is killing me?”
Avery looked around for Gumptin. She wondered if he was waiting for her to announce his presence. He had a large dose of arrogance to him, so that’s what Avery assumed he was doing.
Before Avery did officially announce Gumptin’s presence, she noticed that Sasha was still talking on her phone, “Hey, Sasha, could you get off the phone?”
Sasha either didn’t hear her or completely ignored her, so Avery got right in front of Sasha’s face, “Sasha,” she said, hand gesturing for her to hang up the phone, “get off the phone.”
Sasha held up her finger, giving Avery the ‘one minute’ sign. Before Avery had a chance to ask Sasha to hang up again, Jade came over, grabbed the phone away from Sasha, and shut it closed.
“Rude, Jade!” Sasha shouted, grabbing her phone back, “I’m only here because you threatened to mess up my face for tonight’s party. I have a lot of stuff I still have to do before tonight!”
Well, Avery could think of no better time to let Gumptin handle things than right now.
“Girls!” Avery shouted loudly, getting everyone’s attention, “Jade and I brought you here to meet somebody who’s pretty much going to explain things to you that’ll turn your world upside down.” Avery looked to the tree she saw Gumptin sneak behind before they had left to get the others, “Gumptin, come on out!” Avery yelled loudly and waited for him to pop out from behind the tree, just like he had done to her, but after a few beats nothing had happened.
“Gumptin sounds like a fungus.” Sasha told her sarcastically.
“If he’s a guy, I hope he’s hot!” Skylar gushed, taking a seat on the bench next to Sasha.
“Gumptin get out here now!” Avery continued to yell, but nothing happened. She looked to Jade and Jade rolled her eyes, letting Avery know she wasn’t surprised by him not showing.
Avery walked over to the tree she had seen Gumptin scurry behind before she left, looked around it, and saw him curled in a small ball next to a large root, sleeping. She reached over and picked him up by the collar of his tunic, shaking him out of his sleep.
“How could you have fallen asleep?” Avery huffed, continuing to shake him, “You’re making me look like an idiot, Get up!”
Gumptin smacked his lips together and rubbed his eyes, “I have not had a decent sleep since the five of you were killed. It is exhausting being your guardian.”
Avery didn’t want to hear it; she waved her hands in the air, “They’re all over there waiting, go do to them what you did to me.”
Gumptin straightened his wardrobe and ran his fingers through his beard, attempting to brush out all the dirt and debris he had collected while napping under the tree; it was only about half successful. As he walked off to go confront the girls, Avery stayed behind the tree, leaning her back and head against the strong wood. She took a deep breath and decided to stay where she was until after Gumptin had made his introductions, not wanting any more questions thrown her way.
Avery heard a collective gasp from the girls and a small squeal from Bunny, so she assumed they had now all seen Gumptin.
She heard Sasha screech, “Oh, my, God! What are you?” And she heard Skylar mumble, “Well, he’s definitely not hot.”
Gumptin was in the middle of listing off the girls names and how he knew them when Jade appeared in front of Avery’s face, “Wanna take a walk?” She asked, and Avery agreed, grateful to take a breather away from all the craziness.
Jade and Avery walked over to the picnic bench they had sat on together after Jade had been shown the Ora Gateway. It was out of earshot of Gumptin and the girls, so they could just sit there in silence listening to the distant cars pass by, the birds in the trees calling out to each other, and neighborhood dogs barking. It was a peace they both appreciated, knowing that they wouldn’t have too many peaceful moments in the near future.
Avery wasn’t able to hear what Gumptin and the girls were saying, but she could still see them. She saw emotional Bunny with her hands over her eyes just rocking back and forth. True to fashion, Sasha was up in Gumptin’s face arguing, and Skylar just sat on the bench smiling, not giving any emotion away by just looking at her. The conversation only continued for a little bit longer before Gumptin motioned for them to follow him.
“Ooh,” Avery said excitedly, “he’s taking them over to the gateway!”
Jade, who had been leaning back looking at the sky, turned herself around, “Well, this I’ve got to see.”
They watched as Gumptin said the words, and then watched each of the girls’ reaction as the Ora Gateway appeared before them. Bunny began to get teary eyed, which Avery could have predicted. Sasha shut up for the first time since Gumptin had emerged in front of her, and Skylar began laughing so hard that she doubled herself over.
Jade turned back around to face Avery, “For the first time since I’ve met Gumptin, I actually feel sorry for the little jerk.” Then, she laid her head in her folded arms to rest her eyes.
Gumptin continued talking to the girls for another twenty minutes before leaving them by the gateway and walking over to Avery and Jade.
“I am taking them back to Orcatia now.” He told them when he reached them, “You two best go back to your houses, gather your things, and get your family.”
The thought of dealing with her family made Avery queasy. She still wasn’t sure if she was mad at them or not for keeping everything a secret from her. Plus, involving her family made everything completely real, there was no turning back after that.
“You don’t want us to come with you guys?” Avery asked, hoping to stall for a little more time before she had to face her family.
“No,” Gumptin told her, dashing her hopes, “when the girls return and are ready to leave they will contact you on your voice communicators.” Avery figured Gumptin was talking about a phone, but she knew it pointless to tell him what they were really called since he’d most likely just forget it anyway, “Also,” Gumptin said, turning away to leave, “you are human, so the fewer times you travel through the gateway the better…what, with breaking down of your molecules and everything.”
Avery and Jade exchanged looks of horror. Avery instinctively hugged herself, willing her molecules to stay in place, “Thanks for telling me after my fourth trip, you evil gnome!”
After watching each of the girls go through the gateway, some more reluctantly than others, Avery and Jade walked over to their vehicles. Avery felt lucky that she had asked Skylar to take her own car, that way she didn’t have to worry about how the other girls were going to get home when they got back to Earth.
Avery got in her car and pulled away from the curb. She turned her car back out onto Main Street and drove home the same way she had every single school day for the past year. She continued driving left on Main Street until it was no longer called Main Street anymore, just a small pot-hole filled two lane road called Roadrunner Boulevard. Avery traveled slowly down the Boulevard, making sure the old broken road was delicate on her tires. After traveling a mile down the Boulevard, passing subdivisions of houses built in the seventies, a public swimming pool, and a strip mall filled with a sizeable and flamboyant pink and orange building whose purple neon sign flashed “Coyote Dave’s Bowling Alley, Roller Rink, and Diner! Open till the rooster crows!!” Avery reached the turn she wanted. She turned right on Dust Devil Avenue and her stomach clenched, it would only be a few more minutes before she reached her home. She stared out her window at the open desert and mountains stretching in front of her and tried to clear her mind. To the left of Avery was a large park with basketball courts and a large baseball field where the little league teams played. It had a picnic area where every spring multiple families would have barbeques, and a small playground with a rickety swing-set and plastic green slide.
Across from the park, on the right side of the road, was the neighborhood that Avery lived in. Tall Jacaranda trees and brown lampposts lined the sidewalks. Avery turned her car in to the third street down and stopped in front of the first house on the left, 5821 West Sunset Drive, Avery’s house.
She got out of the car and began to walk up to her house, but stopped shortly afterwards. Instead, she leaned against one of the tall jacarandas planted in her own front yard and just stared at her house for a little while. It was just a little after four and the sun was beginning its slow descent in the sky, throwing its bright rays on to her peach adobe house, making it almost look like it was glowing. She looked over the three large oval windows with the brown shingles and stopped at the third window, knowing her bedroom lay just beh
ind the glass. Avery got choked up as she took in the entire front exterior of her house, the green front yard with multi-colored flowers scattered throughout, the different shrubs, the pecan tree, and the dark green vines with heart shaped leaves covering most of the adobe on her house. Just looking at her house she thought of how comfortable and safe it made her feel, and now those things weren’t hers to keep anymore.
Knowing she couldn’t stand out there wallowing all day, especially with the sun beginning to set, she made her way up the yard, under the vined archway and up to the light blue front door. Instinctively, Avery turned the doorknob, not really expecting it to be unlocked, but to her surprise the door swung wide open.
Avery’s two giant German Shepherd’s Justice and King bounded up to her, knocking her back against the entry wall and showering her face with slobbery kisses. Bailey, the family’s old Great Dane waited patiently behind the two younger dogs for his chance to give his master some love.
“I missed you guys, too.” Avery laughed as she pushed them off of her and scratched all their heads lovingly.
Avery walked past her three dogs, out of the walkway, and turned the corner into her living room. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw her parents sitting on opposite sides of their over-stuffed floral couch, and her sister Cinder sitting in between them. They were all just staring at Avery, as if they were expecting her.
Immediately, Avery’s eyes went to her younger sister, Cinder. Cinder was only seven years old with blond curls that fell to her shoulders, big baby blue eyes, and peachy tan skin. Cinder was the little golden child with a lovely exterior, infectious laugh to go along with her dimpled smile, and a sweetly independent spirit. Avery’s parents spoiled Cinder, showering her with attention and praise, buying her cute outfits and stuffed animals to go with her baby doll looks. Still, Avery couldn’t resent Cinder the attention or the gifts, for she absolutely adored her sister. Cinder was always the one cheering Avery up at home when she felt depressed or stressed. Cinder would come into her room and show Avery the new tap dance she learned that day or tell Avery a story about how a kid at her school was so dumb he had to wear a helmet just so his brains wouldn’t leak out of his ears. All of her life Avery had looked out for Cinder, making sure she was never picked on and that she always had her homework done, so that she never fell behind in class. Cinder gave Avery two very important things in life, joy and responsibility. If Avery could have, she would have told her parents to give Cinder all the attention.
The Protectors: Book 1 in the Protectors Saga Page 10
