CAUTION: This story contains implied sexual activity between minors, violence, and profanity. Reader discretion is advised.
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Unless otherwise indicated, all the names, characters, events and incidents in this book are either the product of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Assam Chai
by IndigoNeko
Chapter 9
Wednesday, June 22nd, 2016
Alex flipped the lid of hir dad’s old laptop closed, then leaned back in hir computer chair, flipping hir tail tip against hir chin. Star Dreamer had been right; there wasn’t a single thing shi could find on the web related to freeing the spirits of the dead that had been consumed by the Cat Sí. The creature was still out there, though. Eventually it would find someone else near death, and eat their souls as well.
The young tigress sighed, looking at the small smoky crystal sphere sitting on hir desk. The inclusions in the center shimmered red and orange when shi moved hir head, like the fire opal shi had seen at one of the jewelry stores in town. Alex wondered if shi could find a small battery-powered turn-table to stick it on, to watch the inclusions sparkle.
After a few seconds the tigress turned the chair to the side and stood up, walking over to hir closet to pick out some clothes. After a moment shi settled on a skirt and a t-shirt. The tigress stepped out into the hallway, then into the bathroom to start hir morning ritual.
Fifteen minutes later, Alex stepped out of the bathroom feeling refreshed, then headed downstairs to fix french toast; shi had a hankering for cinnamon and sugar. The great-room was noticeably darker with the film that Mom had put up yesterday, but still more than bright enough in the early morning light. Shi walked over to the windows and glanced down. Dad’s car was gone; he’d probably left while shi was still in the shower. Alex frowned, wishing shi could have given him a goodbye hug. Shi sighed and turned to start a small batch of french toast; Mom would probably want some when she woke up.
By the time Alex had finished eating, Mom still hadn’t shown up. Shi glanced in the bedroom; the sheets were rumpled and Mom was very much asleep. Sighing, Alex opened the nursery and stepped inside carrying a small plate of tiny pieces of french toast. By the time shi had reached the crib, both of them were standing upright, leaning against the inside of the bars.
“Hellooo,” Alex whispered. “You two must be hungry, huh?”
Nick gave a chirp of sorts while Kate gave her signature growl. Alex set the plate down before moving them one-by-one over to their play-pen, then grabbed the plate again and carefully climbed into the play pen and sat down before putting the plate on the floor between them.
Within minutes the plate had been completely cleared; apparently the twins liked french toast way more than the mashed veggies and shredded chicken they’d been eating for the past few days. Both of them kept looking back and forth between hir and the plate, clearly wondering why there wasn’t any more. They’d also been far less messy than normal, apparently more interested in eating the food than playing with it. Alex called that a win, and picked up the plate to go back to the kitchen.
Mom still wasn’t awake when Alex had finished the dishes, and shi double-checked on the twins again, making sure they had clean diapers. Alex tried out one of the feathered cat toys, playing with them for several minutes before they stopped chasing it. Then they went back to tussling with each other for a few minutes before running out of energy. It was funny how they operated at 100% peak craziness for like ten minutes straight, then flopped over next to each other and fell asleep within seconds.
Alex watched hir baby siblings for a bit as they fell deeper into a doze, their chests rising and falling. Shi sighed and stepped back outside the nursery. They’d be good for at least an hour, and Mom would be awake by then. Debating the best way to kill some time, Alex eventually settled on skateboarding. Actually, this would be a golden opportunity to see if shi could go find that Cait Sí as well.
Two minutes later, Alex closed and locked the side door behind hirself, skateboard in hand and strapped from head-to-toe (well, knees anyway) with skateboarding pads and a helmet. Shi immediately jogged down the steps and took off east past the ‘END OF ROAD’ sign into the woods. Another five minutes later, Alex finally reached the service road that led up to Aengus’s house.
The tigress headed south a bit, going further up the road towards Aengus’s shack of a house. The rusted grey hulk of a truck parked out front looked like it shouldn’t run, but shi knew that it did... or at least, it had last Halloween. On a whim, shi decided to stop by the old honey badger’s house; he might have seen the faerie-cat.
Alex checked hir shoes to make sure shi didn’t have any mud on them, then padded up the pair of steps onto the small cement porch. After swapping hir skateboard to hir other paw, shi looked around for a doorbell for a moment before remembering that he didn’t have one. Shi rapped on the door with hir knuckles.
__________________________________________________
Aengus Dowdy frowned at the small black feral sitting on the linoleum in his kitchen. It stared back up at him, ignoring the small can of cat food he’d just opened for it. The damned thing wouldn’t eat kibble, or canned cat food, or anything else that he could reasonably afford on his pension. Hell, he could barely afford to keep himself fed. “Fine,” he muttered, turning towards the pantry to get out another can of tuna.
A rap at the front door made him pause. For a moment he was tempted to ignore it, but... he didn’t get solicitors of any kind, not for at least ten years now. The only people who made it all the way up the service road to his front door these days were either heathens from the local cult ‘checking on him’ or the damned kids who’d darkened his doorstep last All Hallows Eve.
Wondering which it was, the honey badger tightened the belt around his bathrobe and shambled out of the kitchen and down the dark hallway to the front door. Wishing he had a peep hole or small window of some kind next to the door, he undid the door chain, then the deadbolt, then unlocked the doorknob itself and pulled the door open.
The tiger cub he’d helped rescue on Halloween stared up at him, wearing a sturdy helmet along with various pads on her knees and elbows, carrying a skateboard. He blinked and raised an eyebrow. “Did ye skate all the way up here just to check on me again?”
The young tigress shook her head. “No, sir. I was just wondering if you’d seen a small black cat. A small feral, with a white star on its chest.”
The honey badger tilted his head. “Sure have. Showed up here a couple weeks ago. Scratched at me front door ‘til I let it in. It’s sitting in the kitchen. I take it that it’s yers?”
The girl’s golden-yellow eyes went wide, her pupils dilating. Fast as lightning, she grabbed his bathrobe, yanking him out onto his porch. Before he knew it, she’d slammed the door shut behind him.
“THE HELL YE THINK YER DOIN’?” he shouted, turning around to face her and raising his fist to deck the little troublemaker. He didn’t hesitate even for a second, even if she was a girl.
Only... his fist didn’t connect with her. Somehow he couldn’t catch her either, despite grabbing at her twice. She just kept ducking and dodging. “Little brat!” he yelled, trying with both hands to get ahold of her. How the hell she was managing to stay out of reach while staying on the tiny four foot wide porch, he had no idea. After a few seconds he was thoroughly out of breath and found himself bent over, gasping for breath. She was talking a mile a minute, apologizing profusely.
Aengus finally stopped and looked at her, puzzled. He wasn’t sure how she’d managed to avoid him. He’d been a professional boxer in his late teens and early twenties, and knew how to throw a punch. Sure, he was old and slower now, but... Now that he stopped to think about it, she was faster than any boxer he’d ever seen. As good as Willie Pep or even Muhammad Ali. He held a hand up to stop the flow of apologies while he got his breath back. She went still, watching him with obvious concern in her eyes.
After Aengus felt his heart slow a bit, he stood back up, staring down at her. “How’d ye do that?”
“Do what?” the tiger cub asked, tilting her head.
“I could ‘nay land a hit on ye. How’d ye get so fast?” he asked, genuinely curious.
“Uh... lots of practice?” the tigress said. “I’ve been learning karate for like a year now. I came in second place at the tournament a couple weeks ago.”
“Huh,” Aengus muttered. He didn’t know anything about karate except that some MMA fighters used it. “Ye’ve got potential, kid.”
“Uh... Thanks, I guess,” the cub said, shifting uncomfortably at his praise.
The badger frowned at that. Much as he wanted to know more about karate and the tournament she was talking about, he also wanted to know why she’d yanked him outside his house. “So... why’d ye pull me outside and shut the door?” he asked, gesturing to his front door.
The tigress paused for a moment, gaze flicking towards the door, then stepped close. “That’s not a cat,” she whispered.
Aengus raised an eyebrow at her, wondering if she was daft. “If it walks like a duck, and it quacks like a duck, it’s probably a duck. Or in this case, a cat.”
“I’ll explain, but... can we go sit in your truck maybe?” the tigress asked, quietly. “I’d feel a lot safer with cold iron around us.”
This time both his eyebrows went up as he looked at the cub. A shiver went up his spine; the only reason to mention cold iron was if the fey folk were involved. “Lass, I hate to be the one to tell ye, but cold iron don’t exist nowadays,” he said, getting a confused look from her again. He sighed and explained. “Cold means that the iron’s never been melted... not just cold to the touch. And nobody’s cold-worked iron ore for nigh unto eight hundred years, lass.”
The tiger’s mouth formed an ‘O’ as she realized that ‘cold iron’ didn’t mean what she’d thought. She looked around, nervously. “Is there any place safe around here where we could talk?” she asked quietly.
Aengus looked around, then cautiously stepped down off the porch and shuffled over towards his rusted hulk of a truck. He stopped next to it, then turned to look at the tiger cub who’d followed him. “This may not be cold iron, but the fey folk still don’t like iron or machinery. I take it you seem to think that cat in there is some kind of faerie?”
“Uh-huh.” The young tiger nodded quickly. “It’s not a cat; it’s a Cait Sí. That old cabin was its lair. It ate the souls of the two fawns who lived there, back in the early nineteen-hundreds. Star Dreamer burnt the cabin down and sowed the ashes with salt and rowan, after I told him about it. That’s why it's looking for a place to live.”
The honey badger squinted at the tiger cub. That explained why the heathens had come through with a truck and mowing equipment a few weeks back, and the faint smell of smoke that had lingered since. He hadn’t heard anyone mention the cat-sìth since he was a wee lad, sitting at his grandmother’s knee. “How’d ye find out about them fawns?”
“I saw them, after I fell through the faerie ring on Halloween. I didn’t know who they were, so I asked around. Steve found an old newspaper article about them.”
Aengus went silent, struggling to remember the faerie lore his grandmother had poured into his ears when he was a child, after his parents had gone to join the fight against Germany. If not for the pixie he’d seen fluttering around his grandmother’s garden with his own two eyes, he’d never have taken her tales seriously. For over seventy years, he’d wondered if what he’d seen was real or not. Apparently it had been real.
The badger swallowed. No wonder it didn’t eat cat food. Somehow the Cait Sí must have known he was dying, and it was waiting patiently for an easy meal. Well, this was one meal that it wasn’t going to get for free. Cold iron was impossible to find now, since iron ore was melted in a bloomery to start with, but regular steel and iron worked well enough on fey folk. The problem was that they worked on mortals too.
No, Aengus needed to make absolutely sure that it wasn’t just a regular cat, and he knew just the thing. He was going to need to find some iron powder. He’d have to call and see if his son Stuart was still making knives in his spare time; he’d have iron dust, for sure. Aengus felt a grin spread across his muzzle. “Don’t ye worry, lass. I know exactly how to deal with it.”
__________________________________________________
The wind rushed past Alex’s face, making hir squint. Shi wished shi had hir snowboarding goggles. Next time, shi would. The service road that went downhill from Aengus’s house wasn’t that steep, but it was over a half mile long and was downhill the entire way to the eastern road. Shi carved her way down the service road in a long S-shape, still getting a feel for the differences between skateboarding and snowboarding. Tricks like helicoptering were out of the question, but skateboarding was still pretty fun.
The end of the service road was about three hundred feet away when shi realized shi was going way too fast. Shi put hir toe down on the road, but the drag from hir shoe sole wasn’t doing anything to slow hir noticeably and the T-intersection was coming up. Sliding sideways probably wouldn’t work... the wheels would catch and flip the board, just like catching an edge while snowboarding.
Or maybe... it might work, but shi had to get the board sideways first, and the wheels had traction when going straight. Maybe if shi hopped a bit just before turning it? It was worth a try. The worst that would happen was sliding across the pavement. Road rash sucked, but it would be better than getting hit by a car. Running out of time, Alex hopped a bit and tried rotating the board under hir. It worked, shockingly enough. Shi slid a few feet, slowing rapidly. Then the board flipped under hir feet, just as shi’d feared.
Alex fell flat on hir ass, hir helmet bouncing off the road. Panicking, shi quickly dug in hir heels and tucked hir elbows. The plastic pads on hir elbows and wrist braces made horrible scraping noises as shi slid across the pavement. It felt like forever, but eventually shi came to a stop.
The tigress let out a long breath, laying on the asphalt, then rolled over and stood up. Shi was barely ten feet from the stop sign. Shi checked hirself for damage. Other than the base of hir tail, which had taken the brunt of the fall, shi was pretty much okay. The elbow pads and wrist braces were scratched to hell though. Shi looked around for the skateboard, but it was nowhere in sight. Sighing, the tigress walked over to the ditch and began hunting for it.
Fifteen minutes later, Alex skated her way up the driveway. Shi’d taken the long way back into town along the eastern road that led up to the dojo, then south through town along main street before reaching the big wooden sign with gold painted carved lettering that read ‘Aspen Glen’. It had taken another five minutes skating through the subdivision before shi finally reached hir driveway. Shi stopped and took off hir helmet with a sigh, then stomped on the back of the skateboard and caught it with hir other hand.
“Where the hell have you been?” an angry voice called out.
Alex looked up. Mom was standing on the front patio above the garage, staring down at hir, and already dressed in her usual khakis and flannel... holding a gun in her hand. Wondering what the heck shi had done wrong and why Mom had her pistol out, Alex answered truthfully. “I hiked through the woods up to the service road,” shi said, pointing at the forest past the ‘END OF ROAD’ sign, “then I skated back along the eastern road and main street, then back home.”
“Get inside. Now,” Raenne said, scanning the surrounding area.
“Yes, ma’am,” Alex said, double-timing it up the stairs to the side porch. The side door opened before she reached it, and Mom was standing there. “Sorry,” shi apologized as shi stepped inside. Mom closed and locked the door before holstering her pistol.
“I tried calling you three times,” hir mom said, glaring at hir. “I was about to call the police.”
“Sorry! I didn’t hear it ring. I had my phone on me though, I swear!” Alex apologized again. Shi pulled hir phone from the zippered pocket on hir skirt and held it up. Just to prove it was on, shi unlocked the main screen. It did indeed show three missed calls in red just above the phone icon. “I guess I didn’t hear it... skateboards are kind of noisy on asphalt. What’s wrong? I fed the twins before I left...”
Hir mom held both her hands up and massaged her temples, like she had a headache. “I already warned your dad yesterday, but the dumbass didn’t listen. I didn’t think I’d need to tell you until today... that’s on me, I guess. Alex, do not leave the house unless you’re with me.”
“Why?” Alex asked, confused.
“We’re in danger. My brother Ivan knows where we live.”
Alex stared, ignoring the whisper of the Cossack Lullaby that ran through hir mind. The stories Mom had told about her brother at therapy that one day had been terrifying. Willow’s question yesterday about whether the mafia would be coming after them now seemed less academic and much more immediate. “He... How?”
“Ivan abducted the lawyer that’s handling our parent’s estate. The lawyer’s safe now, but his wife called to warn us yesterday,” Raenne explained, then reached over to take down one of the twin’s carry-slings. “Get your pads off; we’re driving into town. We need to go buy bullet-proof vests, and you need to carry the twins so that I can protect us if needed,” she said, holding out the carry-sling.
After glancing down at hir hands, which were full, Alex quickly set hir skateboard and helmet against the wall next to the door and started peeling off the pads shi was wearing.
__________________________________________________
Thursday, June 23rd, 2016
Heinrich waited patiently as the home care nurse carefully reversed the wheelchair and backed it up to the front stoop, then tilted the chair back to get it up over the door step. The jostling barely added to the constant throbbing ache in his various broken bones. At least the vicodin prescription they’d picked up was starting to kick in. The effect felt similar to the morphine that Ivan had hooked him on. Ten seconds later, Isabel followed the crocodile in medical scrubs into her house.
“So, what’s the plan?” Henry asked the nurse, his voice quiet and slurred as he spoke through a jaw that had been wired shut. “Keep me upstairs for two weeks? I’m going to need access to a computer so I can help Jasper out. I’m sure it’s been a struggle to stay afloat with me being gone for... what’s it been? Three weeks, Isabel?”
“Three weeks, yes,” Isabel said.
The crocodile waited patiently before laying out the plan. “Well, you’re supposed to stay in bed for two full weeks before we start therapy. An office computer’s out of the question, but you could probably use a laptop if you’ve got one...”
“We don’t,” Isabel said, frowning. “Do you want me to go buy one for you, Henry?”
“I think that would probably be a good idea. Any recommendations?” the monitor lizard asked, quietly.
“Oof, you’re asking the wrong person,” the crocodile said. “You’re not going to be doing anything serious on it, like 3D-rendering, will you?”
“Goodness, no,” Heinrich whispered. “Just checking email, web browsing, and working with word documents and PDF files.”
“Ah. Then in that case, get the lightest laptop you can find,” the nurse firmly replied. “You’ll need to be able to move it and use it with one arm. Windows or Mac, whatever you prefer.”
“Good point,” the mangrove monitor whispered. “Isabel, after I’m settled in, can you head to the local mall and get a lightweight laptop from the Apple store?”
“Of course,” Isabel replied.
“Well, since that’s settled... let’s get you upstairs, huh? Don’t move, sir,” the crocodile replied, reaching down past the handles to grip the metal frame of the wheelchair and picked it up, including the monitor lizard sitting in it.
Heinrich hissed, clutching the arm-rests with his one good arm. His broken arm and shoulder gave a twinge as he jerked.
“Just hold on tight, sir,” the nurse said as he headed up the stairs. “Which bedroom is yours?”
“Second door on the right,” Isabel said from behind them, following the crocodile up the stairs.
The nurse set the wheelchair down after he reached the second floor and wheeled it down the hallway towards the back of the house. “Kids rooms, huh? A boy and girl?”
“One boy and two girls,” Isabel confirmed. “They’re at a neighbor’s house right now. I’ll be going to pick them up as soon as Henry’s in bed.”
“Ah. And there’s the bathroom,” the crocodile said. “Perfect. So, I’ll be checking in every morning, afternoon, and evening-”
“Oh, that reminds me. The technicians from ADT will be coming tomorrow morning to install the new security system,” Isabel interjected. “I think they can get you a guest security code.”
“I was going to ask about that,” Heinrich whispered. “Thank you for scheduling that, my dear.”
“You’re welcome,” the female lizard said with a smile. “Sorry for interrupting. You were saying?”
“No problem,” the nurse said, waving his hand. “I was just saying I’ll be checking in regularly to help with the necessities...”
__________________________________________________
Kayson hopped up the stairs, taking them two at a time. His sisters followed behind, a bit slower. The young lizard went straight past his and his sister’s bedrooms, going straight for his parents’ bedroom. Dad was laying on his usual side of the bed, his broken leg lying on a pile of pillows. A wheelchair sat in a corner of the room next to the nightstand.
“Hey, Dad,” the boy said, walking up to the side of the bed. “Mom said it was okay to come up and say hello. Welcome home.”
“Hi Kayson,” Heinrich said quietly, opening his eyes as his kids entered the bedroom. “And Maddy and Emmy, too. I’d give you all hugs, but it’s a bit hard to move when you’re wearing as many casts as I am.”
“Daddy!” the two younger girls said in unison as they darted to the side of the bed, intent on giving him hugs.
“Stop!” Isabel warned as she stepped into the bedroom as well, which was starting to feel a little crowded. “You might hurt him.”
“You can hold my hand though,” Heinrich whispered, holding up his left arm. Both Madison and Emily took their father’s hand and arm, holding it tightly. “I love you all so much! Ah, but I’m glad to be back home. Hospital food is terrible. All they had was SPAM and canned tuna.”
“To be fair, they don’t have many strict carnivore patients. Most birds and mammals are omnivorous. So are many reptiles, for that matter,” Isabel pointed out. “But don’t you worry. I put a pork roast in the slow cooker all day yesterday, for that North Carolina Pulled Pork you love so much. Will that work for lunch?”
Kayson felt his mouth begin to water at that, and his dad took a deep breath and murmured “Isabel, light of my life, you have no idea how much I would like that. I haven’t had a decent meal in literally three weeks.”
“Good,” Isabel said, smiling. “Then I’ll head back downstairs and start fixing it,” she said, turning and heading out of the room.
“Did you three behave for your mother while I was gone?” Heinrich asked quietly.
“Yes, daddy,” the two girls replied.
“They did,” Kayson confirmed. “They didn’t argue over their toys at all, or about what to watch on TV. I told them bedtime stories every night, since you weren’t here.”
“Good. Thank you all very much,” the older monitor lizard whispered. “Now... I won’t be able to get out of bed for another two weeks, except to use the restroom. Can you all promise to keep behaving for me, if your mother needs to leave the house by herself?”
“Yes, daddy,” Madison and Emily replied.
“Yes, sir,” Kayson added, nodding.
“Thank you. Now, if you girls don’t mind, I need to talk with your brother,” Heinrich murmured.
“Okay, daddy,” Madison said, squeezing her father’s arm before shooing her younger sister out of the room.
After the two young girls had left, Henry spoke up again, his voice barely above a whisper. “Thanks again for helping your mother out with taking care of the girls, Kayson. She told me you helped her out around the house... that’s why she was so willing to let you stay over at your friend’s house... uhhh, James? Jared? Anyway... I’m proud of you.”
“Jared,” Kayson corrected. “He’s the coal skink on our little league team.”
“Right, the boy with the bright blue tail,” his dad said, closing his eyes for a moment and relaxing against the pillow. “The one whose father ran out on them.”
“Yes,” he confirmed, wondering if he should let his dad know that Jared was more than just a friend. Then again, Mrs. Munsee had said that his parents knew about Jared. Maybe... “You know he’s gay, right?”
Kayson’s dad opened his eyes again. “Yes,” he whispered, staring at him in silence.
Kayson shifted uncomfortably, unsure what to say or how to say it.
Henry took a deep breath, and closed his eyes again. “You’re gay, too,” the older lizard said, letting out a deep sigh. It wasn’t a question. “I’ve suspected it for at least two years now.”
Kayson blinked. He hadn’t even known what the word meant until Jared had told him a week or two ago. “How...?”
“Little things,” his dad murmured. “The way you walk, the way you talk, the way you gesture. When you started looking at other boys differently a few months ago, it just confirmed it.”
“You’re not upset?” Kayson asked, feeling more than a bit relieved.
“Upset? Heavens, no. I’ve had plenty of time to get used to the idea. I’m actually surprised you figured it out so soon. I thought you’d be at least twelve or thirteen before you figured it out yourself,” Heinrich whispered. “But your mom will be when she finds out. She’s, uh, a bit high-strung.”
“Should I tell her?” Kayson asked, worried.
“God, no!” the older lizard said. “She spent a solid week worrying in private that hanging out with Jared would ‘turn you gay’.” His dad snorted. “I was too afraid to tell her that you already were.”
“So, keep it a secret then.”
“Yes,” Heinrich agreed, opening his eyes and looking at his son. “It might be a good idea to keep it a secret in general, actually. I don’t know how bad bullying at school might get if other kids find out. When I was a kid, it was bad for the few kids at school who were gay.”
Kayson blinked, then frowned. He didn’t want to get bullied. “How?”
“Hmmm. Remember what I said about the way you walk, talk, and gesture?”
“Yeah?”
“We’re gonna need to work on that,” Heinrich whispered, with a subtle smile. “Develop your gaydar so you know what to look for in other men, and know how not to act so you don’t stand out.”
__________________________________________________
“...your father and I spoke to the pediatrician about Nick and Kate. We’re going to try separating them for a bit. So we’re going to move Nick upstairs into the guest bedroom-”
Alex wasn’t paying much attention to what hir mom was saying, staring out the car window in silence as they drove towards the Dojo for more shooting practice, trying to ignore the uncomfortable vest shi was wearing under hir shirt. This time Mom wanted to do live-fire ‘run-for-cover’ drills, not just doing drills at home with the stupid cap gun. The young tigress frowned as shi saw a dark smudge rising above the trees on the ridge to the southeast. “Mom, is that smoke?” shi interrupted.
Raenne slowed the car and pulled off to the shoulder of the road, staring out the front window. “Sure looks like it...” she muttered, then reached over to open the center console on the SUV. After a second she pulled out her phone. “Shit. Damn piece of junk didn’t charge last night. Do you have your phone on you?”
“Yeah,” Alex said, pulling it from the pocket of hir capris.
“Call nine-one-one and hand it over.”
Alex glanced down at hir phone and unlocked it, then pulled up the phone app and quickly dialed the number before handing it over.
Raenne waited a moment, and Alex could hear the person who picked up asking what the emergency was. “There’s a fire on the eastern ridge,” hir mom replied. “Looks like a forest fire. I suggest you contact the U.S. Forest Service and the NIFC.”
Alex couldn’t hear what the other person said, but hir mom replied. “No, I don’t. I can try driving up that way. I think there’s a road that heads south a bit further up East Canyon Road.” Another few seconds passed with the other person speaking. “Yeah, I’m going to start driving up there. I’m going to put you on speaker phone. Alex, hold the phone, would you?”
The older tigress lowered the phone and pressed the speaker button, then held it out for Alex. After shi accepted it, hir mom put the car back in drive and checked the rear-view mirror before pulling back out onto the road.
“What’s your name, ma’am?” the person on the phone asked.
“Raenne Andreyev,” hir mom said, spelling it out, then answering a few other questions that the person on the line asked. By the time she’d finished answering questions, the side road had come into view and Raenne slowed the vehicle.
Alex recognized the service road the moment they reached it; she’d spent a solid five minutes at this intersection searching for hir skateboard two days ago. “Mom, this is the service road where Aengus lives, and the old cabin that Star Dreamer burned down.”
“Who?” Raenne asked, turning onto the south road.
“Aengus! He’s an old badger. I talked to him on Tuesday-”
“Where are you?” the person on the phone interrupted.
“We’re one mile east of town, on the East Canyon Road. There’s an unmarked asphalt service road heading south,” Raenne replied.
“Thank you,” the person on the phone interrupted. “Did you say there was a cabin that burned down? Do you know when?”
“I dunno,” Alex answered as her mom started up the south road. “It still smelled like smoke when I went up there a couple days ago.”
The person on the phone went quiet for a while. Alex was about to ask if they were still on the phone when they spoke again. “We’ve got a registered burn under the name Charles Weynesmyer. Looks like that was about two weeks ago, supervised by the Winter Creek Fire Department. There’s a chance it could have re-ignited.”
“Mom, hurry! Aengus could be in danger!” Alex said. The tigress heard the engine roar as hir mom stepped on the gas, and the SUV picked up speed, racing up the service road.
“The Winter Creek Fire Department trucks are all on their way. The NIFC is going to be coordinating the response,” the person on the phone said. “If you see any signs of fire, stop immediately; you don’t want to get caught up in a forest fire. But we still need to know how big it is.”
“Ten-four,” Raenne said, focusing on the road as she drove up it at twice the posted speed limit.
Another minute passed in silence, the cloud of smoke growing closer and darker as they sped up the service road. Raenne slowed as she caught sight of the rusted old pickup truck. Smoke was pouring from the house next to it and most of the roof and upper siding was already ablaze.
“We’ve reached it; it’s a house fire. The building’s completely engulfed,” Raenne said. “Looks like it hasn’t spread to the surrounding forest yet, but it will soon-”
“There’s Aengus!” Alex said, pointing. The old badger was standing on the opposite side of the road, in jeans and a t-shirt, watching his house burn with his hands on his head, like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
Raenne slowed the SUV as they approached, staying a couple hundred feet away from the house. She carefully did a U-turn so that they could drive away quickly if needed. Alex didn’t pay much attention, quickly passing hir phone to hir mom while unbuckling hir seatbelt as the car came to a stop. Shi pushed open the door and jumped out, then ran flat out up the road to the old badger.
“Are you okay?” Alex yelled as shi got close enough to him. The fire was hot enough that shi could feel it, even from forty feet away. A loud tinkling noise interrupted them, and Alex looked over... one of the windows in the truck had shattered. The remnants of the paint on the truck were peeling and bubbling. As she watched, the flames sprung up from the bed of the truck as something in it caught fire.
“I’m fine, Lass,” Aengus said, walking over to hir. “But we need to call the fire department!”
“They’re on their way,” Alex replied. “We called them when we saw smoke, when we were driving up the east road. C’mon, if it gets worse we can get in Mom’s car and drive down the road.” Shi waved at him to follow.
“Bless ye, lass,” the badger said, walking as fast as his old legs could carry him. “The house caught fire so fast I didn’t have time to make a call. The phone was in the kitchen, where it started, and me truck wouldn’t start...”
Raenne stepped out of the SUV and walked over to them, meeting them halfway. “What happened?” the older tigress asked, still holding Alex’s phone. When she reached them, she handed her daughter’s phone over. Apparently the call was over.
“Electrical fire,” Aengus replied tersely. “Wall outlet in the dining room.” The old badger turned to look at his house, watching the flames. “Damned aluminum wiring. I knew it was a fire hazard, but I didn’t have the money to replace it...” he muttered, then sighed.
“I hope you’ve got home owners insurance,” Raenne said, watching as flames rose up from the truck cab.
“Nay, lass,” the old badger said, shaking his head. “Couldn’t afford it on me army pension.” After a moment of silence the old man turned to look at the older tigress, catching the pitying expression on her face. “Oh, don’t you worry ‘bout me, lass. Me wealth isn’t in the house. I own the land from this here road all the way to Aspen Glen. Near two hundred acres. T’was supposed to be me son’s inheritance. But I suppose I’ll have to sell it now, to make ends meet.”
The older tigress’s eyebrows went up at that. “We own the house on the northeast corner of Aspen Glen. Do you own that triangular stretch of woods north of Aspen Glen?”
“Aye, lass,” the old badger said, looking at her suspiciously. “Why? Ye thinkin’ o’ makin’ me an offer?”
“Well, I own the Dojo two miles up the East Canyon Road, and I’ve gotta drive all the way southwest to Main Street, then double back up north. It’d save me a solid fifteen minutes of driving every day if we had a small road going straight north from our house. Plus I’d like to keep the forest intact, rather than having another suburb spring up right behind our house. Alex loves hiking in the woods.”
The badger turned to look at the younger tigress. “Trespassin’ on me land, were ye?” he asked angrily. The fur on the back of Alex’s neck stood on end; shi’d never thought about the fact that the forest might belong to someone else. Then the old badger laughed. “I’m jus’ kiddin’, lass. S’alright by me. Ye’ve proven yer good neighbors.” He looked back at Alex’s mom. “Do ye know she comes to check on me every so often, like when we had that great snowstorm in January? I’ve seen her more often than me own son, to tell ye truth.” He sighed, then turned back to watch the burning house.
Raenne shook her head, then her ears swivelled back as she heard sirens coming up the road behind them. “No. I only know shi goes hiking through the woods regularly. But Alex likes these woods, and I’d like a shorter drive and a guarantee that no new suburbs will go up in our backyard. If you sell it to us piecemeal, you won’t need to sell the whole plot. We both win. So... I’ll be glad to buy that stretch from you. Or more, if you’re willing.” Then she smiled. “I’ll give you twenty grand cash as earnest money today, if you want. You’ll need it for a new vehicle. I figure it’s the least I can do for a fellow veteran.”
At the last word, Aengus turned to look at the older tigress, raising an eyebrow. “Iraq?”
“Yeah,” Raenne nodded, looking back at him. “Vietnam?”
“Aye,” the old badger said, turning back to look at his burning house as the first fire truck finally arrived, driving past them a bit before coming to a halt. “You’ve got yerself a deal, lady,” the old badger said, turning and holding out his paw. “Aengus Dowdy. Pleased to meet ye.”
“Raenne Andreyev,” the tigress said, shaking the badger’s paw. “Pleased to meet you too. Though I wish it were under better circumstances,” she said as firemen began pouring from the vehicle, grabbing fire hoses and unwrapping them.
“Aye to that. If ye wan’, we can go to the local credit union, get the survey maps, figure out how much ye want, settle on a price, and call a lawyer. Got nothin’ else to be doin’ today, ‘sides watchin’ me house burn down.”
Alex snerked at that. The old man had a subtle sense of humor.
“Done. I’m going to call my husband and check on the twins real quick. Then we can drive into town. I’ve gotta make a quick stop at the Dojo first, though. Alex can give you a tour if you’d like,” the tigress said, pulling out her phone before walking back towards the SUV.
Aengus waved lazily as the tigress stepped away, then went silent a moment before speaking. “Ey, lass... Alex, was it?”
“Yes, Mr. Dowdy,” shi confirmed. “Alexandrea, actually. But I go by Alex.”
“Well, Alex, ye were right: ‘Tweren’t no normal cat,” the old man said quietly. “I owe ye me life, lass. Me soul, really. ‘Twas that damned thing’s fault me house is on fire.”
A shiver ran up Alex’s back. “Is, uh, is it... dead?”
“Dead?” Aengus asked as another fire truck pulled up behind them. “Dunno, lass. But it’s banished, for sure. The Black Salt worked a charm on it; we won’t be seein’ it again. Though how it got all the way over here from the Old Country is anyone’s guess.”
The young tigress relaxed, grateful that the Cait Sí had finally been dealt with. Shi turned back to the house, watching the flames dance along the rooftop. The first sprays of water hit the side of the building and blasted open the front door as the firefighters got to work. For a brief moment, it looked to Alex like a pair of fawns stepped out of the house and onto the front stoop, barely visible in the haze of water that the firefighters were spraying. Then they vanished as smoke and steam billowed out from the doorway, engulfing the area.
__________________________________________________
Friday, June 24th, 2016
Heinrich closed the lid of his new laptop and carefully set it on his nightstand, having memorized the last file he’d be working on for the day. The nurse had been spot on with his recommendation for getting the lightest laptop they could find; it was at the very limit of how much weight he could lift without straining his broken collarbone. At least it seemed that Leanne, Jasper, and Ethan had managed to survive. He’d spent most of the day catching up on what had happened and making apology calls to the various clients who had been most impacted by his absence.
There was one last call he had to make. Luckily these particular clients weren’t on east-coast time. He picked up his cell phone off the nightstand and dialed the number, waiting for several seconds before the call connected. The house was strangely quiet with his wife and children out of the house, attending Kayson’s little league game. The ringing of the phone seemed all too loud.
“Winter Creek Shotokan Karate Dojo. Sensei Raenne, speaking.”
“Hello, Mrs. Andreyev. This is Heinrich Pullman,” he said quietly, irritated by the fact that his jaw was wired shut. It made it difficult to speak at a reasonable volume and gave him a strange lisp. He was relieved that she was clearly alive and well... she wouldn’t have answered the phone if she wasn’t.
There was a moment of silence before the tigress on the other end responded. “Mr. Pullman. Your wife, Isabel, called a few days ago and let us know you’d survived your ordeal... and informed me that Ivan is looking for us. Thank you for the warning.”
“You’re welcome. It was the least I could do after your timely intervention saved my life,” Heinrich said. “Mrs. Andreyev, I don’t know if you’re aware, but your brother is a very dangerous individual. My first impression was that he wasn’t that bright, but after spending a bit of time in his, uh, ‘care’, I’ve revised my opinion of him. He’s extremely cunning and charismatic, in a criminal sort of way. Do not underestimate him.”
“Don’t worry; I know just how dangerous he is. We’ve got a top-of-the-line home security system installed, and I’m always armed.”
The lizard let out a sigh of relief. “Good. We just had our own security system installed as well. Apparently there’s a police station only one mile from us. I don’t expect we’ll need it though, as I’m reasonably confident that Ivan believes I’m dead. Honestly, after he stabbed me in the chest I was certain that I’d die too.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Not your fault,” Heinrich said. “But if you see him, I’m fairly sure he still has my gun. A Ruger GP one-hundred.”
“The three-fifty-seven magnum?”
He was impressed. Apparently the woman knew her guns. “Yes. Silver snubnose.”
“I’ll keep my eyes out for it if he comes knocking. I’m certain the FBI will be happy to return it to you. It might be a few months though, since they’ll have to process it for evidence first.”
“Hopefully he won’t have used it. But I wouldn’t be surprised,” the lizard muttered, then sighed. “He’s also got some kind of old Russian assault rifle.”
“The Kalashnikov, yes,” the tigress replied. “If I may ask... You said he knows where we live. Do you mean he’s got our address?”
“No. At least, I don’t believe he does,” the lawyer explained. “I overheard him interrogating one of his accomplices, who was certain he’d seen your daughter at some diner in Winter Creek late last year, and received some sort of reward for reporting the sighting.”
“Hmm. So he knows the town, but not the address. Do you know how many men he had at his command, and what happened to them after the FBI raided the warehouse?”
The way she phrased the question made him wonder if she was ex-military. “I know he had about a dozen armed men at the warehouse itself when they were actively packaging drug shipments, plus several workers who were doing the packaging. I believe that all of them were there when the police showed up. According to the detective I talked to a few days ago, the survivors were arrested and are awaiting trial for the manufacture and distribution of narcotics, among other things... Except for Ivan, who escaped somehow.”
“Well, it’s a relief that some thugs are off the streets. Disappointing that my brother is still at large.”
“Indeed,” Henry agreed. “Anyway, the primary reason I wanted to call, besides thanking you for saving my life, was to confirm that we have the right bank account number on file for your daughter’s trust fund deposits. The file I’ve got says it’s with Ent Credit Union, for an account ending in seven-six-seven-one?”
“Uh, one second.” There was a moment’s pause. “Yes, that’s correct.”
“Excellent. The first payment should be in hir account on August eighth.” Henry said. “Did you have any questions about the trust fund, how it works, or anything else?”
“No. My husband did, but Mr. Eaton answered them, apparently. David said that Mr. Eaton was very knowledgeable and professional.”
“Excellent,” Henry said, pleased that his new partner was getting good reviews from all the clients he’d talked to. “You and your family stay safe, Mrs. Andreyev.”
“You as well, Mr. Pullman.”
__________________________________________________
Ginnie sat down at the dinner table, feeling a bit awkward. They hadn’t had a ‘traditional’ family dinner since they’d moved from Boston. Now all of a sudden both Mom and Dad had gotten it into their heads that it would be better for them as a family if they started eating dinner together again. She suspected it had something to do with her having laid an egg earlier that week, but both of them had denied it.
After she sat down, Dad set a large bowl down in the middle of the table and used a pair of salad tongs to fill the three smaller bowls sitting around the table.
“So what kind of salad did you make?” Ginnie’s mother, Gwen, asked. The older thrush was peering suspiciously down at the bowl in front of her.
“Avocado and pine nut salad with a dijon vinaigrette,” Hank said. “I got the idea from that diner we stopped at last Sunday.”
Ginnie looked down at the salad, which had a very generous portion of pine nuts and bits of crumbled cheese mixed in with the chunks of avocado, tomato, and salad greens. All of it was chopped into tiny pieces, exactly the way she liked it. It actually looked really good. She looked back up as he started drizzling a thin yellow dressing over the top of it. “Thanks, Dad.”
“You’re welcome, Chiclet,” the older thrush said, using the small bottle to put a portion of dressing over the other two bowls before sitting down with them. The three of them bowed their heads while he said a brief prayer over the meal.
When the prayer was over, Ginnie quickly picked up her spoon and scooped some of the salad up before putting it into her beak. The flavor and texture was... unexpectedly good. Better than any of the usual cajun or east coast style dishes that her parents tended to prefer. She ran it around her mouth for a moment with her tongue before swallowing. She caught her dad staring at her. “What?” she asked.
“Well? How is it?” he asked.
Ginnie glanced down at her salad bowl for a moment, then looked back up at him. “It’s delicious,” she said, taking another spoonful. She savored the way the tangy dressing mixed with the avocado, crumbled feta, and pine nuts. Both Hank and Gwen were silent, staring at her. She swallowed again. “What?!”
“Is that the first time she’s ever complimented your cooking?” Gwen asked, glancing at her husband.
“Nah. She likes my fried locusts too,” Hank replied, then looked back at his daughter. “You actually like it, Chiclet?”
“Like it...?” Ginnie asked, tilting her head slightly. “I love it. It’s delicious. Thank you.”
Air whistled through both her parent’s nares as they sighed. “Good. It was really easy to make, too,” Hank said. “So... more salads, less seafood?”
“Please?” the young thrush begged, looking up at her father. “Cause this is amazing.”
The corner of her father’s mouth turned up and his beak parted in an avian smile. “I can do that. There’s another salad I was looking at from the middle east, called tabbouleh. It’s got parsley, mint, tomatoes, onion, bulgar wheat, and it’s drizzled with olive oil and lemon juice.”
“That sounds... interesting,” Gwen interjected. “But what about proteins?”
“Hmm. I could cook some fried locusts to go with it...”
Ginnie smiled at that. It sounded delicious, especially with fried locusts. “I’d love to try that.”
“Done, then,” Hank said. “I’ll fix that tomorrow.”
The three of them ate a few bites of their salad in silence before Ginnie spoke up again. “Dad? Could I get a ride to karate class after dinner?”
Hank swallowed before answering. “The doctor said you should wait at least a week before doing anything strenuous, remember?”
“But... I feel fine, Dad.”
“I don’t care if you feel the best you’ve ever felt,” Hank said. “The doctor said you should wait a week, so you’re going to wait.”
Ginnie sighed through her nares with frustration. She was getting bored being cooped up in the house. “Can I at least go on Monday? Please?”
Both of her parents glanced at each other for a moment, then Gwen sighed. “Fine, you can go on Monday. That’s close enough to a week, as long as you promise to take it easy.”
The young thrush gave her mother an avian smile. “I promise. Thanks, Mom.” Then she stuck another spoonful of the pine nut salad in her beak.
__________________________________________________
Saturday, June 25th, 2016
Alex sighed with relief as the door closed behind hir. Mom had taken Nick upstairs to the guest bedroom and put him in a second play-pen about an hour ago, and neither of the twins had stopped yowling since. Mom hadn’t been kidding when she’d warned hir and Dad that the twins wouldn’t take kindly to being separated.
The young tigress waved over hir shoulder at hir mom, who was watching from the patio that overhung the garage, then adjusted the straps on hir backpack before swinging hir leg over hir mountain bike. Apparently Mom had come to the conclusion that they were probably safe, but should keep an eye out for anything or anyone who seemed suspicious, especially any tigers that they didn’t recognize. Alex was under orders to call 911 immediately if shi did, and then take cover or hide until the police arrived... and fight with everything shi had to avoid capture.
Either way, Alex was free to leave the house once again, provided shi wore hir vest, and was taking the opportunity to spend the weekend at Ravi and Aruna’s place while the twins were being acclimated to being separated from one another. Shi put hir weight down on the pedal and kicked off, heading up the street towards the ‘END OF ROAD’ sign before cutting north into the short stretch of forest between their house and the eastern road.
The enduro mountain bike had no problems with the rough terrain and occasional tree root, and the trees were spaced far enough apart that it was fairly easy to get through them. The forest further east was much denser, and almost impossible to bike through. It made for a great hike though.
Two minutes later, Alex reached the East Canyon Road that led up towards the Dojo. Shi checked both ways before biking across the road to head back west towards town. Shi reached the Aspen Glade subdivision another two minutes later, and turned right, then left. All totalled, it was just a bit over five minutes before shi reached the Bassi house.
The tigress carefully dismounted, then walked hir bike the rest of the way up to the front porch before putting down the kickstand and taking off hir helmet, hanging it from the handlebars. Shi waited a moment to catch hir breath before knocking on the front door.
Alex could hear the thunder of footfalls as Ravi raced down the stairs in their living room. At least, shi hoped it was Ravi. Aruna was supposed to be careful, because she could accidentally injure herself without knowing it. A moment later the door opened. Ravi stood in the doorway, grinning. Alex stepped forward and wrapped hir arms around him in a tight hug, then nuzzled his chest, purring happily as he returned the hug.
“Good evening, Alex,” an older voice said.
Shi lifted hir head and looked over to the couch where Sevita was looking at hir with a gentle smile. “Hello Mrs. Bassi,” shi replied. Then added “You too, Mr. Bassi,” as shi caught sight of Atman lounging in his recliner. The older tiger waved in hir direction. Shi stepped back from Ravi, looking up at him. “Where’s Aruna?”
“Upstairs,” Ravi answered, stepping back. “She’s cleaning up her room right now.”
Alex stepped inside and closed the door behind hirself, locking the deadbolt just in case. “What, just cause I’m spending the night?”
“No,” Ravis said, turning and heading upstairs. “She knocked over one of her bottles of nail polish or something. She’s scrubbing her desk and floor with acetone to get it off.”
“Oh. That sucks,” Alex said, frowning and following him upstairs. “I’ll go help her. Want to watch a movie afterwards? Or play video games?”
“Sure. We’ve got a couple of hours until dinner,” Ravi said as they reached the top landing. “Say, I was wondering... you rode your bike over, right?”
“Yeah,” Alex confirmed, following him into his room before taking off hir backpack and dropping hir backpack.
“Want to bike over to the arcade tomorrow? Maybe, uh, go on a date?” Ravi asked a bit bashfully. “Aruna’s going to be spending some time with Mom and Grandmother tomorrow. Some girl thing.”
A grin spread across Alex’s muzzle, and shi reached out to hug him once again. “I’d love to.”
“Sweet,” Ravi said, returning the hug, then kissing the top of hir forehead as they both began purring. Alex felt hir tail twitching with excitement as shi nuzzled his chest.
