Silt, Denver Cereal Volume 8 (40 page)

“
You’re mom’s going to
kill me,” he said. “This is just provisional
and . . .”

“
Dad!” Wanda said. “Some
other girl is getting beaten up and raped and whatever
else.”

“
They was goin’ to kill
the girl,” Frankie said.

“
What happened to your
vocabulary, Frankie?” Wanda’s dad asked. “You’re a smart kid. Why
are you talking like a thug?”

“
Dad!” Wanda said. “Focus.
We have to save the girl. They will kill her. They almost killed
Tink.”

“
Your little friend?”
Wanda’s dad asked. “The one I met last weekend?”

Wanda and Frank nodded.

“
What are you doing
hanging out with people like that?” Wanda’s dad asked.

Frankie took off in the direction of the
other boys. In order to make his point, Wanda’s dad followed
him.

“
You used to be on the
honor roll with Wade!” Wanda’s dad said.

“
Wanda!” Wanda limped
along at his side.

They ran until they reached a quiet grove of
trees.

“
Holy crap,” Wanda’s dad
said. He gave Wanda his phone. “You call the police.”

“
I’m not going to sit this
out,” Wanda said.

“
Girls leave the fighting
to the men and boys,” Wanda’s dad said.

“
Not this girl,” Wanda
said.

Frankie smirked and they entered the
grove.

~~~~~~~~

Monday afternoon—2:45 p.m.

Jacob let the dogs play at the dog park for
a while after Charlie had sauntered off to basketball. He liked to
see his puppy Sarah play with Buster, the ugly dog. Buster treated
Sarah like his personal princess. They romped and played all over
the fenced area while Scooter stayed close to Jacob’s side. Jacob
leaned down to rub Scooter’s ears. The old guy was slower now, but
still liked to be with the other dogs.

Jacob whistled for Sarah. She ran straight
to him and Buster followed. He clipped the leashes onto their
collars and checked that Scooter was attached. He started a slow
jog down Josephine Street past the East High parking lot and into
the outer edge of the park. His plan was to jog along York Street
and turn up Twenty-Third Avenue by the zoo. If Scooter seemed too
worn out, they would walk the rest of the way.

Buster pulled toward the east side of the
park.

“
Nah, we’re going this
way.” Jacob assumed he wanted to follow their usual morning
route.

Buster pulled again to the east, but Jacob
kept him on track. He glanced down at Scooter. The old boy trotted
at his side with a big smile on his face.

Jacob smelled it first.

Rage.

He stopped short. Buster jerked his leash
and took off into a grove of trees.

“
Buster!” Jacob
yelled.

He used his psychokinetic ability to stop
the dog before he got too far. Uncharacteristic for the gentle dog,
Buster turned around and snapped. He gave a loud bark and lunged at
Jacob. Sarah jumped in front of Jacob. The dogs snarled at each
other for a moment before Sarah looked up at Jacob. She gestured
with her head that they should follow Buster.

“
All right, boy, we’ll
follow you,” Jacob said.

They started across the grass. Jacob slowed.
A couple boys ran across their path toward York Street. The boys
looked like they were running for their lives. Buster pulled and
Scooter barked. Jacob sped up and they ran deeper into the
grove.

And he saw . . .

He wasn’t sure what he saw.

He blinked. The dogs scooted closer to
him.

An enormous blue and green dragon lay in
front of them. Her eyes were almond shaped and a beautiful shade of
rust. Her eyelashes were like long tree branches. The dragon’s
mouth was as big as a fire truck. Fire came from the dragon’s mouth
in a stream and made a circle around Noelle.

Lit up in the fire’s orange and red, Noelle
focused on her painting. As if they couldn’t see the fire, a group
of twenty or more young men stood frozen just inches from Noelle.
Lust and rage emanated from the boys like exhaust fumes. One of the
boy’s held a baseball bat just inches to the side of Noelle’s head.
Another boy held a knife just inches away from her.

A taller boy, clearly the leader, stood to
the side. A joint dangled from his mouth and his pants looked worn,
but his eyes held the pure, dark emptiness brought by the joy of
extreme violence. The boy was strategizing how to rape and kill
Noelle.

In the corner of the clearing stood Wanda,
her father Erik, and some boy. Wanda looked like she’d already had
a run in with this gang. Erik’s mouth hung open as if to shout, and
the boy next to him had the stunned look of someone waking from a
nightmare.

“
Jacob Marlowe,” the
dragon said.

“
Ma’am.” Jacob swallowed
hard. Not sure what to say, he added, “Uh, what’s going
on?”

“
What does it look like?”
the dragon asked.

Jacob groaned. Ghosts on Sunday. Dragons on
Monday. How much could he really deal with? For a brief moment, he
thought about leaving, but there was no way he’d leave Noelle like
this. He tried to remember what Delphie always said about
dragons.

“
Delphinium always says
that dragons can’t answer questions,” the dragon said.

“
It’s very rude to read
someone’s mind without his permission,” Jacob sniffed.

The dragon laughed.

“
I am not reading your
mind,” the dragon said. “We’re out of time. Surely, you recognize
the feeling of being out of time. You’ve been here
before.”

Jacob blushed. Once, in a fit of
desperation, he’d pushed Jill out of time. He’d only done it
once.

“
No shame, young Marlowe,”
the dragon said. “You cannot help who and what you are any more
than I can.”

Scooter tugged and his leash slipped from
Jacob’s hands. The old dog went to the dragon. He greeted her with
his head down. He rubbed his head against the dragon’s shoulder.
She seemed to smile, without ever letting up on the fire. Scooter
lay down at her shoulder.

“
Scooter and I are old
friends,” the dragon said.

Unsure of what to say or do, Jacob shifted
back and forth. His mind threw out question after question. He
tried to slow down and think.

“
Noelle’s in danger,”
Jacob said.

“
Noelle’s in imminent
danger,” the dragon said. “They intend to kill her.”

“
You can deal with them,”
Jacob said.

“
I cannot deal with them,”
the dragon said. “I’m with child. My powers are limited and I
cannot fly. I can, however, eat them. While they look like tasty
snacks, I believe Denver would notice a few chewed-up boys. I’ve
been hunted before. I’d like not to repeat that.”

“
You want me to do
something,” Jacob said.

“
I want to use you as a
channel,” the dragon said. “I will add my power to yours. You will
toss these boys away from Noelle so her friends can save
her.”

“
I don’t want to be hunted
either!” Jacob said.

“
Noelle will think it’s
me,” the dragon said. “Her friends and the boys are unable see our
power. They are too caught up in themselves. We have to stall long
enough for the police to get here.”

“
Noelle will be hurt,”
Jacob said. “Even with your power, I can’t hold them all off. There
are too many and they are too . . .”

“
They are on drugs,” the
dragon said. “They enjoy this sport of blood and lust.”

Jacob shivered with disgust.

“
And yes,” the dragon
said. “I’m sorry that Noelle will be injured, but she
will.”

“
It will destroy her,”
Jacob said.

“
You can’t destroy a child
like Noelle,” the dragon said. “But she will be hurt. So will you
and Noelle’s friends. There’s simply no other way.”

“
You’re sure?” Jacob
asked. “And the dogs?”

The dragon gave him a wry smile. Jacob
groaned.

“
The dogs will be injured
too,” Jacob said.

“
Less than the humans,”
the dragon said. “This is a human battle. Now, let the dogs off
leash.”

Jacob unhooked Buster and Sarah. The dragon
seemed to speak to the dogs. Buster got between Noelle and the boy
with the bat. Sarah refused to move from Jacob’s side.

“
She loves you very much,”
the dragon said.

Scooter got up and encouraged Sarah to move
toward the center. Sarah and the dragon stared at each other for a
long moment. Jacob wasn’t sure what was going on, but Sarah looked
up at him and then moved into the fight.

“
Are you ready?” the
dragon asked.

For a moment, he wished he were back in bed
with Jill. He remembered her face in the moonlight. He remembered
what she looked like when a tear ran down her cheek. He saw her in
the silly mask from the party in Santa Monica. He wished he could
transport himself to Jill.

He glanced at Noelle. She was the bravest
girl he’d ever met.

“
Wait,” Jacob
said.

The dragon turned her attention to
Jacob.

“
Delphie says that dragons
cannot affect the course of human-to-human interaction,” Jacob
said.

“
That’s correct,” the
dragon said.

“
I’m no dragon,” Jacob
said.

Jacob went to the boys around Noelle. He
pushed down his sleeves to cover his hands and jerked the baseball
bat out of the boy’s hands. He set the baseball bat where the boy
with Wanda would find it. He took the knife from the boy near
Noelle and threw it blade down into the grass. Jacob thought for a
moment.

“
You’ve done all you can
do?” the dragon asked.

Jacob scowled. The dragon wanted him to do
something else, but couldn’t tell him. Jacob looked from boy to
boy. He looked at the dogs. Glancing back at the dragon, he saw
that she was staring at Noelle.

Of course.

Noelle had been taking martial arts since
her mother, Nuala, had broken her cheekbone. He had spent long
hours teaching her Brazilian jujitsu. The boys joked that she was
particularly ruthless. Jacob dropped down and crawled under the
fire ring.

“
Noelle.” Jacob shook
Noelle awake.

Noelle eyes focused and she looked up at
him. She gave him a confused look before noticing the fire ring and
then the boys. She gave a tiny squeal. She grabbed onto Jacob in
fear, and then pushed him away.

“
Okay, okay,” Noelle said.
“I’m okay.”

Jacob helped her to her feet.

“
They
are
going to attack you,” Jacob
said. “What do you do first?”

“
I assess the strengths
and weaknesses of my opponents,” Noelle said. She looked at the
boys closest to her.

“
What do you do next?”
Jacob asked.

“
I prepare myself because
this is going to hurt like hell,” Noelle said.

“
Exactly,” Jacob
said.

“
Um, why are they frozen?”
Noelle asked.

“
The dragon cannot affect
human interaction,” Jacob said.

Noelle nodded as if that were obvious.

“
Are you ready?” Jacob
asked.

“
I’m ready,” Noelle
said.

Jacob slipped out of the fire ring. He
repositioned the dogs.

“
You know, the boys are
high. Anything they say will be suspect, especially if they say
they saw something as crazy as a dragon.”

“
Duly noted,” the dragon
said. “Are you ready?”

“
Noelle?” Jacob
asked.

“
Ready,” Noelle
said.

Jacob nodded to the dragon

And time returned.

Chapter Two Hundred and
Forty-Seven
Enough

For a brief moment, everything stood still
and Jacob’s mind raced. He hoped he wouldn’t die. He hoped Noelle
wouldn’t be injured. He wasn’t sure what happened if you injured a
pregnant dragon, but he was fairly certain it was not good. He felt
a nudge against his leg. He glanced down and Scooter was now
standing next to him.

When he looked up, everything was in motion
and his mind was still. He felt the dragon’s power like a
heartbeat. All sound disappeared except for the heartbeat.

Beat.
He raised his hand and the leader of the group flew back
against a tall pine.

Beat.
He moved his fingers back. The leader slapped against the
branches as he rose up the tree truck.

Beat.
Jacob touched his index fingers to his thumbs and flicked the
boys away from Noelle.

Across the grove, he saw Wanda reach Noelle.
The girls moved back to back to fight with the boys nearest them.
The boy with Wanda picked up the baseball bat.

Erik, Wanda’s father, yelled something at
the boy, and he nodded. He hit several boys’ legs with his bat.
Erik was attacked by two boys at once.

Wanda and Noelle were overrun with boys.

Jacob had been so focused across the grove
that he didn’t see the punch coming at him until he was struck in
the face. Jacob weaved a second too late and felt the impact of a
second punch. He rotated, turned in place, and pushed the boy to
the side. Thrown by Jacob’s unchecked his power, the boy flew ten
feet before hitting the ground. Jacob took a step and another boy
confronted him.