Enchantment (34 page)

“Don't cry, Channie. I’m eating it. See?”

He did indeed have his mouth stuffed full of scorched macaroni. She laughed through her tears and said, “I’m not crying because of the damn macaroni. I’m just crying because … because I’ve had a very long, very, very bad day.”

Elijah got up and put his arm around Channie’s waist. He said, “Is there anything I can do?”

“Nah. I’ll be okay.” She was about as far from okay as a body could get, but she didn’t want to upset Elijah.
 

Channie went into the bathroom and sobbed into a towel for five minutes. It was all she would allow herself. She had to get out of here before Josh came back from the hospital. If she saw him again, she would not have the strength to leave. Especially if Chastity decided to rear her ugly head and take charge.
 

She pulled out her school notebook and wrote Josh a letter.

Dear Josh,

Words fail me as I try to express what is in my heart. I wish I could have been the one to meet your needs, but I guess it just wasn’t meant to be. I’ll never forget you or stop loving you, but I’ll never forgive you either so don’t try to find me. Of all the girls you could have chosen to slake your lust, why did you have to choose Kassie? Were you trying to punish me? I guess it doesn’t matter why, the fact is that you and Kassie have a baby on the way and you need to do the right thing for your child. I know that teenagers in your society don’t get married just because they get pregnant, but your baby needs a father. Have a long and happy life.

Love,

Channie

She folded the letter into a triangle, just like the note Josh had given her on the first day of school. She felt as if her heart were being torn from her chest when she removed her promise ring and slipped it inside the note.

The thought of saying goodbye to Elijah was almost as painful, but she had to do it. She couldn’t leave him home alone and unsupervised.

She found him in the basement, playing the new Harry Potter Legos video game he’d bought with money he’d extorted from Josh.
 

“Elijah, can I talk to you for a minute?”

He turned off the game without even pausing to save it. “What’s wrong?”

“I need you to go back to Mrs. Guffy’s until your momma and Josh get back.”

Elijah ran across the room and stood toe to toe with Channie. He scrunched his face as only a kid under ten can do and said, “Where are you going?”

“Home.”

“You gonna make up with your parents?” His voice was unnaturally quiet for Elijah. He knew something was wrong.

Channie knelt and placed her hands on his shoulders. “I’m going to Arkansas.”

“Why?”

“It’s … complicated.”

Elijah shrugged her hands off his shoulders and stepped back, crossing his arms over his chest. “You just don’t want to tell me.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Is it because of Josh?”

Channie didn’t want to explain everything to Elijah, but she didn’t want to lie to him either. She sat back on her heels and cast a general strengthening spell on herself then shredded what was left of her heart. “We … broke up.”

“Josh is a stupid jackass.”

“You shouldn’t talk like that.”

He looked at his feet then lifted his chin and gazed into Channie’s eyes. “I could be your boyfriend.”

“That’s sweet, Lijah, but … there’s something wrong with me. I need to go home and get some help.” There was still a curse hanging over her head and an evil book to deal with. And the love of her life was having a baby with someone else.

“Can’t someone come here and help you?”

“No one knows where I am.”

“Well, just call them.”
 

“I can’t.” This conversation was draining the last of Channie’s reserves. “There’s some very bad people that want to kill my family. It’s why we moved. I can’t risk leading them here.”

Elijah’s eyes widened. A band of white completely encircled his denim-blue irises. His mouth parted into a perfect “O.”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have told you.” What was she thinking?

“Will I ever see you again?”

“I … don’t think so.”

Elijah’s eyes filled with tears. “Isn’t there some other way—”

“I wish there were.”

“How are you going to get to Arkansas?”

“I have a little money.” Channie wished she’d saved more of what Daddy had paid her for babysitting. “I’ll take a bus as far as I can, then hitch hike the rest of the way.”

“You can’t do that! It’s too dangerous.”

“I’m the one that’s dangerous.”
 

“I’ve got lots of money. You can have it.”

“I can’t take your money. I won’t be able to pay you back.” Channie didn’t like the idea of taking money from a child.

“It’s okay. There’s plenty more where that came from.”
 

She wasn’t worried about the dangers of hitchhiking — other than the danger she posed to anyone stupid enough to give her a ride — but a bus would be faster. And Elijah was right. He earned most of his money by not telling on Josh and there would be plenty of opportunities for future extortion.
 

She opened her arms.
 

Elijah stepped into her embrace and gave her a fierce hug.
 

“Thank you, Elijah.”

He wiped his eyes and sniffled then said, “Can’t you stay for just one more night? Everyone at school was talking about the blizzard that’s supposed to start tonight. We might even get a snow day off from school tomorrow. We could go sledding.”

“I need to go now, before Josh gets home.” The mention of snow reminded Channie that she didn’t have a waterproof coat. “Does Josh have an old coat he’s outgrown? Something he was going to give away?”

“We have a whole box of stuff to take to Sister Carmen’s sitting in the garage.”

Elijah ran upstairs to get his money while Channie dug through the giveaway box. Not only did she find a ski parka, snow boots, knit hat and fur-lined gloves, she also scored a bright orange daypack. She stuffed the winter gear inside, added her journal, moved the Book of the Dead from her school backpack into this one and slipped it on. The straps across her hips and chest kept the weight evenly distributed. She reached up to adjust the chest strap, but froze when the floor vibrated. The familiar noise of the automatic garage door opener shoved her heart into her throat.
 

“Elijah! I have to go.”

Elijah barreled downstairs, stuffed his money into a side pocket of Channie’s new backpack then ran and opened the front door. Channie choked back a sob, and said, “Tell Josh I went home. That way you won’t have to lie, but he’ll think I’m with Momma and Daddy. Wait a couple of days, then give him this.” She dug the note that held her promise ring out of her pocket and shoved it into Elijah’s hand.
 
“Tell him … I’m sorry.”
 

~***~

Channie ran as far as she could then walked the rest of the way to the bus stop near Dillon Road. It cost almost five dollars just to ride the RTD into Denver, so she wasn’t surprised to learn she only had enough money to get herself to Wichita, Kansas. The bus stopped to drop off and pick up passengers more times than she could count and by the time it rolled into the station, Channie was hungry and exhausted, not a good combination. She hadn’t been able to sleep on the bus, she hadn’t brought any food with her and she only had three dollars and sixty-eight cents after purchasing her tickets.
 

She was too unstable to risk asking anyone for a ride, so she decided to walk for awhile.
 

The sun was just starting to set when Channie decided it was time to hitchhike. Her first ride was with a friendly young man a few years older than Josh. She knew it was risky to accept a ride with a man, especially a man that was radiating lustful energy. But it looked like it was going to rain. She did not want to add cold and wet to her list of misery. As long as she stayed alert and didn’t let him take her by surprise, she could curse him without actually killing him or causing him to crash the car.

He drove her from Wichita, Kansas to Ponca City, Oklahoma without trying anything the least bit inappropriate. In fact, if Channie hadn’t been able to read his energy field, she never would have guessed that he was interested in her. He bought her a hamburger, chocolate milkshake and french fried potatoes at McDonald’s, told her to be careful, shook her hand and said goodbye.
 

Hitchhiking was time consuming, but interesting. It took four days to get from Kansas to Arkansas. Channie caught rides with a woman trucker driving an eighteen-wheeler, a farmer with a rundown pickup truck full of friendly folk in the back that shared their blankets and food but didn’t speak a word of English, a traveling salesman that talked non-stop, a soldier home on leave that didn’t say a word and a retired rodeo clown that bought her a turkey dinner at the Cracker Barrel restaurant on Thanksgiving Day.
 

But her favorite ride, so far, was her most recent. She’d been walking for about an hour when an elderly gentleman driving an ancient flatbed pulled over and offered her a ride. He had at least forty cages full of banty hens stacked on top of each other and entertained Channie with tales of what life was like back in the good ‘ole days. He apologized when he dropped her off at the edge of town in Siloam Springs, Arkansas.
 

“I probably should’a let you off at the highway instead of dragging you all the way out here. I wish I could drive you on up to Whistler’s Gulch myself, but I gotta deliver these hens and git on back for another load.”

“That’s alright, I had to leave the highway eventually.”
 

Siloam Springs was only about fifty miles from Whistler’s Gulch, but rides were a lot harder to come by this far off the beaten path. Channie walked for several hours before a cream-colored Pontiac sedan with Tennessee plates slowed down and pulled off the road.
 

A neatly dressed, middle-aged gentleman with salt-and-pepper hair got out of the car and said, “You need a ride?”

“I sure do.”

He tossed a toothpick on the ground and said, “Where you headed?”

“About twenty miles east of a little town called Whistler’s Gulch. You ever heard of it?”

“Have I ever heard of it? Why that’s exactly where I’m going.”

That was a little too coincidental. Channie tried to scan his energy field but it was completely calm, as if he had no emotions. He was probably on some drug to stabilize his moods. Mrs. Abrim's energy field did the same thing whenever she took one of her pills. Channie took a step back and said, “You know, it’s a nice day. I think I’ll just walk for awhile, but thanks for stopping.”

The man smiled sheepishly and said, “Truth be told, I’m a little lost. I’m supposed to see a man — a Mr. Thompson — about buying a couple of Mountain Curs, but I’ve never been to Whistler’s Gulch and I’m not sure I’ll be able to find it.”

Channie relaxed, Mountain Curs were a fairly rare breed of dog, but they were popular in Whistler’s Gulch. She said, “I don’t know how to get there from here, but if you can get us to Boone County, I can find it.”

He smiled, revealing a row of perfectly straight, bright white teeth — on top. His bottom teeth were as crooked and yellow as Old Pappy’s. He said, “I’d be much obliged. My name’s Harvey, by the way, but you can call me Harv.”

Harv pulled into the first Quick-Trip they saw, even though his tank was more than half full. He said, “Do you want anything to eat or drink? This may be our last chance for awhile.”
 

Channie said, “I only got a little over three dollars—”

Harv grinned and said, “My treat. What would you like?”

“If they got Dr. Pepper, that would be real nice. It’s my favorite.”

“No problem, sugar. I’ll be right back.”

Harv’s accent was more southern than Daddy’s, but it still sounded like home to Channie. It was nice not to be on guard all the time, worried about folks thinking she was an inbred hillbilly just because of the way she talked.

The Dr. Pepper tasted bitter. Harv must have gotten her a diet drink instead of regular. Channie didn’t like diet soda, but she didn’t want to be rude. Besides, she was thirsty. It didn’t do much to quench her thirst even though she drank every last bit of it. She probably should have asked for water instead of soda. Channie’s head lolled to the side, causing her to jerk awake with a start.

Harv took her empty cup out of her hands and said, “You can crawl into the back seat and take a nap if you want. I’ll wake you up when we get to Boone County.”

The hairs on the back of Channie’s neck stood on end. She said, “No, thanks. I’m fine.” But she wasn’t fine. Her words slurred together. She was dizzy and nauseous and so tired she couldn’t keep her eyes open.

~***~

A burst of blue-white light jerked her awake. “Josh?”

“My name’s Harv. Remember?”
 

“Where am I?” Channie’s mouth was so dry her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. Her head throbbed with each beat of her heart. How long had she been asleep? It was dark and her neck was so stiff she could barely turn her head so it must have been a long time.
 

“We took a little detour, sugar.”
 

Channie pressed the base of her palms against her throbbing temples. “Detour?”

Another stuttering blast of lightening tore through the sky. It was like blinking in reverse — tiny micro-bursts of vision that pierced the darkness, then disappeared.

A spidery maze of foliage pressed against the windshield. Had Harvey crashed the car?
 

He said, “It’s time for you to show your appreciation for my generosity.”

“What generosity?”

Harvey shot out a blast of rage followed by a swell of lust so foul Channie gagged. Chastity’s curse should have knocked him unconscious, but … there was no trace of Chastity’s energy. Something was seriously wrong. Her head felt as if someone were trying to crack it open with a hammer — from the inside out. She clenched her jaw to keep from throwing up. “My head hurts.”