Larkspur (13 page)

“
You’d better undo this,”
Jill said. “Now.”

The creature said something and Jill
scowled. The creature’s face shifted in a terrifying laugh.

“
What did he say?” Sandy
whispered.

“
Not until the children
are born,” Bruno said. “The father must not be near the mother
until after the babies are born.
Svyaschchennyi zakon.
”

“
Sacred law,” Anjelika
translated.

“
Dad was in a bad car
crash on the way home,” Valerie whispered. “He was going to take us
to the hospital but . . . It was just me and Mom and
Delphie when Jake was born.”

“
Jake and Sam had better
be safe or I will search this world and the next for you,” Jill
sneered. “I will destroy everything you love.”

The creature and Jill locked eyes.

“
Not one hair out of place
on their heads,” Jill said. “They will be comfortable and
safe.”

The creature gave a quick nod. Jill dropped
it to the ground. Scooter gave a deep growl and chased the gargoyle
out of the room.

“
Then I will go somewhere
warmer,” Jill said. She looked at Sandy and her mother.
“Katy?”

Jill held out her hand and Katy took it.

“
Mother, will you and Otis
come up when you’re done?” Jill asked.

“
Of course,” Anjelika
said. “I will bring the babies.”

Jill nodded and left the room. Sandy waited
a few minutes before making some excuse and following Jill.

“
I always knew she had the
Bratva spirit in her,” Otis said. Everyone in the room turned to
look at Otis. He shrugged. “What? She just threatened a
gargoyle.”

Tanesha and Heather laughed.

“
Go on,” Yvonne said to
them. “We’re just waiting for you to leave.”

Tanesha kissed her mother’s cheek and left
the room with Heather and Mack.

“
You too,” Anjelika said
to Valerie. “I will care for Jackie.”

Valerie nodded and left the room.

“
Gee, I hope they’re
okay,” Noelle said.

Otis looked at Noelle.

“
She made an agreement
with one of the oldest creatures on this planet,” Otis laughed.
“They will be unharmed.”

“
Gargul’ya nahodisya pod
knotrolom Dzhillian
,” Bruno
said.

“
Da
,” Otis said.

“
What was that?” Sissy
asked. “What did you say?”

“
He said the gargoyle is
under Jill’s control,” Anjelika said. “I wonder if she’s aware of
that.”

Otis and Bruno shrugged.

“
I’m going to tell her,”
Sissy said.

When Sissy got up, Noelle followed her.
Tink, Charlie, Yvonne, Otis, Bruno, and Anjelika ate in
silence.

“
I always have the oddest
time when I come to this house,” Yvonne said.

“
Yes,” Otis
said.

Anjelika laughed.

~~~~~~~~

Friday evening — 6:05 p.m.

“
Jake!” Sam yelled through
the dust. “Jake!”

They had fallen into some type of concrete
box. It was pitch black. Sam could feel the dirt in the air with
every breath. He coughed.

“
Jake!” Sam
yelled.

“
I’m here, Dad,” Jacob
said.

“
Are you hurt?” Sam asked.
“Jake, where are you? I can’t see a damned thing!”

Sam felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned
and hugged Jacob.

“
Are you hurt?” Sam
repeated.

“
I fell on my ass, so I’m
bruised,” Jacob said. “You?”

“
Landed hard,” Sam said.
“I wasn’t wise enough to fall on a padded part of my
body.”

Jacob chuckled. Sam felt Jacob’s hand tap
his head.

“
What . . .?” Sam started, and Jacob turned on
Sam’s headlight. Sam hooted with delight. “That was smart, son.
Where’s yours?”

“
Gave it to Christy when
she went down to those guys under the pillar,” Jacob said. “I meant
to get another one, but they set up the lights
and . . .”

He held up a flashlight.

“
This one broke my fall,”
Jacob shook the flashlight and it rattled. “I have the little
flashlight on my key ring. You know the one I use to pick up after
Sarah on my keys.”

He took out his keys and tried the
flashlight.

“
This will work in a
pinch,” Jacob said. “Shall we look around?”

“
Son,” Sam said. “What
just happened?”

“
We fell in,” Jacob
shrugged.

“
No,” Sam said. “I was
looking down. I saw the earth disappear below my feet.”

“
What are you saying?”
Jacob asked. “We’re down here because of some magic?”

“
Jill must be ready to
have the babies,” Sam said.

“
Then I’d better get out
of here,” Jacob said.

Sam shook his head and looked around.

“
Where do you think we
are?” Jacob asked.

“
Looks like the big
intersection of Hickenlooper Boulevard,” Sam said. He pointed to
the round concrete holes going in four directions. “Sewer, sewer,
sewer, sewer. This is the junction of all of that.”

Jacob nodded.

“
Why did you say that
about the boys?” Jacob asked.

“
How much do you know
about your birth?” Sam asked.

“
Mom almost died,” Jacob
shrugged. “That’s it. But we’ve taken every precaution
and . . .”

“
I was on my way to bring
your mother to the hospital when I got lost,” Sam said. “That’s
what I told your mother, but I got lost . . . out of
time. We told everyone I was in a car accident because I broke my
leg and arm trying to get out of the car. I had promised her that I
would be there. Her mother had warned her,
but . . .”

“
What are you saying?”
Jacob asked.

“
We’re stuck here until
the babies come,” Sam said. “It’s up to us to survive
this.”

“
I don’t know what to
say,” Jacob said.

“
We’d better settle in,”
Sam said. The beam of his headlight flashed around the space.
“Look, there’s water.”

Jacob bent down to a pallet of cold water
bottles.

“
Is that food?” Sam
asked.

“
It’s those packets of
tuna that you like and those special crackers,” Jacob picked up a
box. “Look, Cap’n Crunch with Crunch Berries.”

Jacob looked up at the dirt roof of their
prison.

“
Milk?” Jacob asked. When
he looked back down, there was a chilled, glass bottle filled with
milk. A white china bowl and a spoon appeared on top of the pallet
of water. “Wow.”

“
Jill must have some
pull.” Sam picked up a water bottle and drank it down. “I did not
have this kind of arrangement.”

“
What
about . . .?” Jacob pointed above them.

“
Nothing we can do now,”
Sam said. “You can be bright like me and try to get out. But you’ll
only hurt yourself.”

Sam went to the edge of the area and lay
down.

“
We’re here for the long
haul,” Sam said. “May as well get some rest.”

“
But . . .”
Jacob said.

Sam was asleep. Jacob scowled at his father.
He tried to use his abilities to get out of the space. Nothing
worked. Hoping he’d come up with something, he poured a bowl of
cereal and settled in to wait.

Chapter Two Hundred and
Fifty-six

Kingdom of Marle

Friday night — 6:57 p.m.

“
How much do you know
about your mother’s family?”

Surprised, Jacob’s head wrenched over to
look at his father.

“
Sorry,” Sam said. “I
didn’t mean to startle you.”

“
I thought you were
asleep,” Jacob said.

“
Just a nap,” Sam said. “I
usually take one before dinner. Of course, usually it’s in my warm
bed with the lovely Delphie by my side.”

Jacob smiled.

“
Where did the lights come
from?” Sam asked.

“
They appeared,” Jacob
said. “I wanted to see what the
Denver
Post
said about the earthquake and the
site. The lights and newspaper just appeared.”

“
And the electricity?” Sam
asked.

“
Electrical plugs.” Jacob
pointed to the indoor wall plugs along the ceiling of the sewer
junction.

“
Wall plugs?” Sam sat up
to look. “In all my years of doing underground, I’ve never seen
interior wall plugs in a sewer main.”

Jacob laughed. Sam got up and walked over to
Jacob. He kneeled down.

“
Beer?” Sam
asked.

“
Just a couple,” Jacob
said. “Would you like one? They’re cold.”

“
Sure,” Sam said. “I’ll
have it with my . . . Oh look, I’ve been upgraded
from tuna to salmon.”

Sam chuckled and picked up the salmon
pack.

“
I do like salmon better,”
Sam nodded.

“
You were saying something
about Mom’s family,” Jacob said.

“
How much do you know
about your mother’s family?” Sam repeated.

“
Uh, they moved to
Leadville around the time of the silver rush,” Jacob said. “They
purchased the Marlowe mine and used their skills to get in where no
one else could.”

Jacob shrugged.

“
Anything else?” Sam
asked.

“
Mom had a sister and her
father died protecting Delphie from Johansen,” Jacob
said.

Sam nodded.

“
Why do you ask?” Jacob
asked.

“
Do you mind if I tell you
a story?” Sam asked. “It’s long, and I have no idea if it’s true.
It was in a book Celia inherited when her father died. The book is
in my room downstairs.”

“
I don’t remember a book
in that room,” Jacob said.

“
Celia hid it,” Sam said.
“I’ll show you when we get home.”

Jacob nodded and Sam fell silent.

“
You were going to tell me
a story,” Jacob said after a while.

“
Oh, you want to hear it?”
Sam asked.

“
Sure,” Jacob
said.

“
It’s long, and I don’t
know if it’s true,” Sam repeated.

“
I have time,” Jacob said.
“Does it matter if it’s true?”

“
Sort of,” Sam
said.

“
All stories have been
told before,” Jacob shrugged. “True or untrue, they are still
interesting.”

Sam nodded. He drained his beer and opened
another. Jacob was about to ask again when Sam took a deep
breath.

“
A long time
ago . . .”

~~~~~~~~~

Friday night — 7:05 p.m.

“
What’s with them?”
Tanesha whispered to Jill.

Standing in the kitchen area of the loft,
Jill, Sandy, and Heather looked over to the sitting area where
Otis, Bruno, and Anjelika were arguing.

“
They do that a lot,” Jill
said.

Katy raced out of her bedroom wearing her
footie pajamas. She slid across the hardwood floor to her
mother.

“
What’s going on?” Katy
asked.

“
Your grandmother
is
arguing
with
her father
again
,” Jill was loud enough for her mother to look up.

A gargoyle sauntered out of Katy’s bedroom
and started across the loft. Scooter caught scent of it and chased
it around the loft.

“
Your grandfather would
like to tell you a story,” Anjelika said.

“
About what is happening,”
Otis said. “About our babies.”

“
I don’t think it’s
appropriate,” Anjelika said.

“
She thinks I am an old
man with old stories,” Otis said. “But sometimes, the old stories
teach us about the present.”

Anjelika groaned.

“
The
gagul’ya
would like you to tell the
story of the kingdom of Marle,” Bruno gestured to the large
gargoyle that was warming itself by the gas fire.

Otis nodded.

“
I’d like to hear it,”
Heather said. Sandy, Tanesha, and Jill turned to look at her.
“We’re not doing anything but worrying. Maybe a story will make all
of this make some sense.”

Jill watched Sandy and Tanesha. When they
nodded in agreement, Jill said, “I’d like to hear the story.”

“
I would too,” Valerie
said as she came out of the nursery with Jackie.

Jill settled next to the fire and Sandy sat
next to her. Katy squeezed in between the women. Tanesha took a
seat on the couch near the windows and Heather sat next to her.
With Jackie in her arms, Valerie sat near the end of the couch.
Seeing everyone gather, Charlie nudged Nash. He looked up from
their video game.

“
We want to hear,” Noelle
said from where she, Sissy, and Yvonne were painting their
nails.

“
Come over.” Jill waved
over Yvonne, Noelle, and Sissy. Charlie and Nash got up from their
video game and took seats on the floor.