Parahuman (Parahuman Series) (4 page)

     “This
is my dad’s business.” She lifted her eyes from the trail to look at him. “One
day it will be mine, and I feel I have an invested interest in who’s hired.”  

     Okay,
maybe this did relate to her, but her face held passion and he respected her
for that. She had a future plan for herself centered on something she evidently
loved.

     Unexpected
despondency swept through him as he became aware of the inadequacy of his own
life. Devan was expected to continue to augment his knowledge, and he enjoyed
learning new things, but how was this knowledge going to be helpful to someone
who was basically a fugitive. What exactly was his knowledge going to be used
for?

     Devan
tore his gaze from her passionate expression to the trail. “It must be nice to
know your plans for the future.” He said impassively. 

     Laney
looked at him for a moment and then switched her gaze to the trail also.

     “No
one ever knows their plans for the future,” she commented softly. “Things
change, events happen, the only thing you can do is be content with who you are
and adapt yourself to the surroundings.”

     Devan’s
head swiveled back at her poignant words and the emotions emanating from her
voice. She was starring at the hikers ahead of them, her face guarded, but he
could see tightness around her eyes. It had seemed like she had been trying to
make him feel better, and in the process had upset herself. Why would she do
that?

     Nevertheless,
her words resonated deep inside him.

     They
walked silently, both immersed in their own thoughts. Devan was curious as to
what had caused her distress, and then he had to question again; why was he interested?
What was it about this girl that was inspiring such interest from him?   

     After
about forty-five minutes of walking the group stepped out from under the canopy
of the trees into the sunshine. It was a cloudless day and the temperature was
around forty-four. Everyone stopped and took a moment to appreciate the beauty
of the surroundings.

     The
view was one of those picturesque scenes of rolling mountains and deep valleys
with an abundance of wildlife and flowing rivers. Animals were everywhere,
although a majority was inaccessible to the average eye. Many of those animals in
the immediate vicinity had already begun to scatter in alarm as a result of the
noise and human scent. 

     The
hikers took this time to grab a drink and snap some pictures. Nick used the
time to explain his intended route. 

     “We
going to continue up this mountain and at the top you will be able to look down
into Red Rock Valley and the Colorado River. We will be hiking down to the
river to have our lunch.”

     “Will
we be able to see any animals?” Becky, one of the mother’s, asked.

     Devan
had noticed when the families first arrived that all the women had a strong
scent of perfume about them; combined with the noise everyone was making, he
doubted any animals would be lingering for long.

     “I
can’t promise anything, noise can travel a long way out here, but if we are
quiet there’s always a possibility.” Nick replied, leaving them with a little
more optimism. He didn’t mention anything about their smell, and Devan had to
assume he was trying to be delicate about it; that or his sense of smell was
completely damaged.   

     As
they continued the hike up the mountain Nick pointed out landmarks in the
distance. Devan took up the rear again trying to dismiss Laney as she talked
with Teresa, the other mother. Of course his hearing wouldn’t allow her to be
ignored. And he had to admit he was curious about their conversation.    

    
“You’re so lucky, being able to come out here all the time.” Teresa exclaimed,
looking around with wonder. 

     “Yes
I am, I thank God everyday for this beauty,” Laney replied.

     Devan
detected complete candor in her tone, like she really did thank God. In one of
Devan’s independent studies he had read about many god figures and deities—there
were many out there to choose from. Different cultures believed in different
things. It was difficult for him to imagine some spiritual being in charge of
everything while other lesser spiritual beings caused disruption. He was more
likely to believe in the chaos theory…which he did not.  

     “Yes,
well, sure.” Teresa seemed uncomfortable with the direction of the
conversation, as though unsure as how to respond to Laney’s declaration.

     
Laney continued though, either oblivious or undaunted by Teresa’s unease. “You
can’t help looking around at this and think someone out there created this;
nothing this beautiful happened by accident.” Laney waved her arm around at
nature with a smile of…he wasn’t sure what kind of smile it was, but it seemed
to hold a secret. He found himself staring at it absorbedly before she turned
away.    

     Devan
recognized that she truly believed what she was saying. It was possible she was
one of those religious fanatics that he’d read about; maybe that was what the
secret smile was about.

    
Teresa didn’t look as if she was getting any more comfortable with the
conversation. 

     “If
you guys consider hiking again you should let us take you to an old mining cave
just over those mountains.” Laney voiced with excitement and pointed to the
east. The rapid change of subject seemed to be an effort of taking pity on the
woman’s discomfort. Devan wasn’t sure but he thought he detected a hint of
resignation attached to Laney’s redirected conversation.       

     “That
sounds really interesting,” Teresa gushed, grabbing at the change in
conversation as though it was a lifeline. Laney smiled in response and
continued to go into further detail about the mining cave. By the end of the
discussion Teresa seemed to have forgotten her discomfort from earlier, and was
talking to the other female hiker, Becky, about coming back to look at the
mining cave. Laney answered questioned they posed for her. 

     Soon after
they were cresting the top of the mountain; at the bottom the Colorado River
wound its way through the valley floor.

      The
hikers got lucky and were actually able to see four elk walking a mile down the
mountain. The elk were probably barely visible to the group, but that didn’t
stop them from getting their cameras out to shoot pictures, trying to zoom in
as close as their mega pixels would allow. It didn’t take long for the elk to
hear all the commotion and gallop off into the tree line. 

     After
the group acquired all their pictures and refreshed themselves everyone
continued down the mountain to the river. By now everyone had their jackets unzipped
as the sun and their body temperatures warmed. Laney and her father still
appeared fresh after the ninety minute, three mile hike. The families on the
other hand were walking a bit slower; Devan heard the two teens complaining
about their feet. Even, Johnny, the ten year old was losing a little bit of his
stamina.

     Devan
was walking next to Laney in the back of the line, again, when he noticed she was
staring intently at his forearms. She glanced up and seemed embarrassed about
getting caught staring at his arm because her skin flushed and she turned
hastily away. Devan watched the crimson color spread out from the center of her
face and down her neck; it was quite remarkable really, the way the color
flooded almost every inch of her skin.  

     She
didn’t appear to appreciate his contemplation of her blush; the narrowing of
her eyes was an obvious indicator. 

     “I
wasn’t checking you out,” Laney burst out huffily.

     The direction
of the conversation startled him. Checking him out? For what? “Okay,” Devan agreed
cautiously.

     “I
was just noticing that the hair on your arm matches the hair on your head. I
was positive it was colored.” She declared testily, and bluntly. Why was she so
annoyed?

      Of
course most people assumed he colored his hair, it was a natural assumption.
You don’t normally see hair that’s brown, gray, orange, and white.

    
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.” Unaccountably, Devan found
himself offering an apology and an explanation. “I’ve just never observed
someone’s internal temperature rise so intensely outside the use of physical
exertion.” 

     Her
face lost its indignation, but not its ruddiness. She raised her eyebrow, her
expression going completely serious.  

     “Are
you calling me a tomato?”

     Devan
frowned in confusion. “I don’t think I was…was I?” He asked tentatively.
Sometimes hidden meanings were filtered out of words and sentences that
completely escaped Devan’s notice. 

     Laney
gave him a look of deep contemplation before answering. “People have made
comments that my face can turn as red as a tomato.”

     Devan
shook his head to correct her. “No, I wasn’t referring to the color but to how rapidly
it covered your entire face as well as your neckline. It is highly improbable
that your skin would turn as red as a tomato from just an internal temperature
rise, it would take a severe sunburn to get that shade of red.”

     Both
Laney’s eyebrows rose and a smile pulled up the corners of her mouth.
“Yes...well…my red face aside I should apologize for my outburst. I’m usually
not so rude; not most of the time anyway.” Her smile turned a bit sheepish. 

     “It’s
not necessarily rude to state the obvious.” Devan extended. He found he wanted
to alleviate her guilt, but he also realized that he was actually enjoying
their conversation and wanted it to continue.  

    
“Actually it can be quite rude to state the obvious sometimes. Like, if someone
has a really big nose or a huge pimple on their face. I doubt
that
person
would appreciate the obvious being pointed out.”  Laney laughed. “As it is, I
could have been less blunt.”

     Devan
smiled at her depiction. “You’re not going to let it go, are you?” 

     “No,”
she admitted still smiling. Devan could feel himself starring; pulling his eyes
away from hers he returned them to the landscape. “Not to be obviously blunt
again, but your hair color is rather unusual. Not in a bad way, I quite like it
actually.”  

     “You
don’t think it’s strange?” He asked curiously.

     “Yes,
but strange is not necessarily a bad thing,” she said, rephrasing his words,
“and, hey, most people try to get their hair that way on purpose.” 

     That
was true; several people had asked him how he colored his hair in hopes of
attaining the same result. It was kind of funny because it was only in the last
year that he had stopped coloring his hair. Before that both he and Brett had
dyed their hair to disguise their looks somewhat. It had been a relief when
Brett had said they could go back to their natural appearance; having to
continually dye his hair had been a pain. The smell had been horrible.

     “It
must be difficult moving in the middle of the school year, having to leave
friends, start all over again.” Laney remarked, changing the conversation onto
a more typical subject.

     Devan
shrugged. If she only knew how often he had moved and started over again, and
again, and that he had no friends to leave behind.

     “Well
I know of a few coaches’ who will be delighted to see you. Do you play any
sports?”  

     This
was another typical subject approached by many who saw his size. Larger males
normally were involved in sports; this seemed especially prevalent in small
towns. It wasn’t generally accepted with good grace by those deeply involved in
the sports arena when he told them he didn‘t play. Some people seemed to think
he was their ticket to a championship or something.  

     “No,
I have other interests.” Devan replied elusively. 

    
“Couch Robertson, the basketball coach, is going to be heartbroken.” Laney
sighed dramatically with a hand to her chest. 

     “It
is not my intent to break his heart.” Devan commented. For some reason this
elicited a chuckle from Laney, which in turn caused a rush of warmth to spear
Devan’s chest. He rubbed at it absently.  

    
Further conversation was put on hold as they reached the base of the mountain.
The walk down had been made at a quicker pace—with the help of gravity—
and
the
prospect of stopping and having lunch was rejuvenating the group. Laney and her
father began setting up lunch in an open area close to the river. While they
did this the families strolled around taking pictures of everything.

     Devan
stood off to the side watching, unsure of his role. Thankfully, Nick yelled
that lunch was ready after only a few minutes. A buffet of sandwiches, cut up
vegetables, and fruit was laid out on a picnic blanket. The families sat
themselves down and dug in.

    
Grabbing a sandwich, an apple, and a water Devan walked over to the water’s
edge to get a better look at the river. The section here was narrow and the
water was rushing by rapidly, crashing against the rocks and sides violently as
it moved around the bends.