The Marked Son (Keepers of Life) (10 page)

The line is silent. I try again.

“Anybody? Come on. I need some help here.”

“Who is this?” comes a sleepy, deep-timbered voice.

“Dylan. Who’s this?”

“Leo. You’re that kid the boss brought today?”

“Yeah. I’m his grandson.”

“Good for you. So what can I do for you at one
as-early-as-hell
o’clock in the morning?”

“We need you to get out here to number five. Another ewe is missing.”

He cusses. “Not good, bro.”

“Yeah, but it gets even weirder. I’ll explain when you get out here.”

“On my way.”

I wrap a blanket around Grandpa, jump out of the foxhole, and pace. They’re going to blame me. I know it. If I were them, I would.

For some reason, the guns make it all seem worse. I jump back into the foxhole, wrap the tarp around the weapons and extra ammo, and tuck them near grandpa’s hidden ATV.

I’m still restless. Round and round I go, scanning the area while I keep an eye on Grandpa and the sheep. Twenty minutes later, the rumble of a couple of ATVs pierces the silence. I rush to the head of the path where the headlights shoot jagged beams through the trees. The first vehicle comes to a stop, and Leo hops off as his dad rolls up next to him. They’ve pointed their headlights at precise angles that flood the meadow with light.

Leo’s normally low voice rises in alarm. “What’d you do to my sheep?”

While Leo goes to check on the flock, Reggie steps in front of me, blocking my way to the ATVs like I’m some kind of criminal, ready to bolt. “Where’s your grandfather, boy?”

I point to the foxhole. “He’s out cold. I can’t wake him up.”

Reggie goes to Grandpa and shakes him, but he sleeps on. “What happened?”

I pace, plowing my hands through my hair until it’s a tangled mess. I want to tell him, but who in their right mind would believe me? Instead, I say the only thing I can. “I don’t know. We were talking and eating and the next thing I know, he’s sawing logs so loud I can’t hear myself think. I tried waking him, but he won’t wake up. And then the flock passed out, too, and the next thing I know, one of them is missing.”

Leo nudges one sheep after another. “What did you do? Crush sleeping pills in their drinking water?”

“I swear,” my voice cracks. “I don’t know what’s going on.”

Reggie motions me into the foxhole. “Help me get your grandfather to my ATV.”

We struggle under the weight of Grandpa, and I wince. The blisters on my hands are still tender, though once again, they’re healing faster than what’s normal.

“What happened?” Reggie asks, nodding toward my hands.

“Allergies,” I mutter. It’s the only explanation that comes to mind, though I’m pretty sure he doesn’t believe me.

Eventually we manage to get Grandpa straddled onto the wide seat. Reggie sits behind him, securing Grandpa in a tight hold before starting the engine.

I can’t let him leave thinking I had something to do with this. “I know you don’t know me, but I didn’t do anything to him. I wouldn’t.”

Reggie’s gray eyes are a shock against his leathery skin. If a person had the ability to see into someone’s soul, this man did. Though it’s difficult, I hold his gaze. There’s a hint of doubt in his eyes. I can’t blame him.

He revs the motor as if he’s about to leave. I remind him, “One of the ewes is missing.” I stare into his eyes and feel the weight of what I need to do. “I’ll look for her.”

His steely gaze searches my character for any defect. I’m riddled with ugly, but I’ve learned to hide it well. He revs the motor again. I could really do with a bit more encouragement. I’m freaked out. Does anyone care?

Indecision flashes on Reggie’s face. “Find the ewe,” he says to his son. His gaze flickers between us. “Take the kid with you. I’ll be back after I get the boss home.”

With that, he eases the ATV around and heads out at a bumpy, bone-jarring crawl.

Leo and I stare at one another. I don’t blame them for being suspicious, but what can I do? Tell the truth?

“So, let me see if I follow you. Everything goes straight for sleepy-bye—everything but you.”

“Yeah.” The truth sounds like a lie, but there’s nothing I can do about it.

“Yeah. Like that’s a believable…”

His voice trails off. The lights of the remaining ATV splash across the clearing illuminating everything. Illuminating me.

“What the…” Leo frowns and leans close.

I look down. I’m still covered in that strange dust.

“Is that glitter?”

He reaches out a hand, and I jerk back. “Don’t touch me.” The last thing I need is for Reggie to return and find his son passed out on the ground. No one would believe I’m innocent then.

With one pass over my shirt, a small amount of the strange dust collects on my fingertips. It feels like silk and smells like summer rain. I blow it off my fingers and it disappears before it hits the ground. Weird. “Did you just see that?”

His face doesn’t crack. “Give it up, bro.”

I swipe at the dust that made Grandpa into Rip van Winkle, and watch it plume off me then dissolve into nothing again.

“Don’t play me,” Leo says, his anger beginning to show. “What
is
that?”

I ignore him and give my shirt another swipe. A crackling laugh escapes me, and I quickly bite my cheek.

Keep it in. Don’t let the stress show.

Leo storms away, and then switches back, stopping a few feet from me. “Listen, you gotta tell me what happened.”

“You wouldn’t believe me.” Even
I’m
having a hard time believing it.

“Try me.”

He wants me to trust him? “Seriously? I get the distinct impression you guys want me gone.”

“I’m not gonna lie. You give off an odd vibe. So yeah, I don’t trust easily. My dad, Pop—they don’t either. But your grandpa is like family to us. Something’s going on. Pop says these woods have always been a little iffy and now you’re—” He waves his hand up and down to draw attention to what we both know is there. “Look at you. Unless you keep a bottle of glitter on hand because you want to feel pretty?”

I rub my head, trying to clear it. “I must be getting a serious buzz off the pine. None of this can be real.”

“No trippin’ going on here. Just tell me what you know, and we’ll go from there.”

The deep timbre of his voice has a strange, lulling effect. Maybe I’ve fallen into an intense dream and all I need is an equally intense jolt to wake me up? I let loose a vigorous shake of my head and give my cheeks a few quick slaps.

Fantastic. Now I’m covered in glitter
and
my ears are ringing.

The ache of keeping everything in presses down on me. Sympathy shadows Leo’s face, urging me to unburden myself. My throat tightens, trying to suppress what I’m about to say. The first step toward relief is hard, but I push past the knot. “Do you believe in the supernatural?”

“Ghosts?” The shadows of sympathy on Leo’s face are suddenly unreadable. “Bro… Pop is so wired for that stuff, I can’t
not
believe in it.” He gets really still, and his voice lowers to a soft rumble. “What happened?”

“I thought they were fireflies, but they’re nothing like anything I’ve ever seen. This stuff… I think it made everything fall asleep.” I brush at the glitter, and a sliver of unrest pushes deeper under my skin.

“Not everything.” Leo’s eyes show his doubt. “You’re still awake.”

I yank off my shirt and snap it clean, cussing as I do. What if Grandpa sleeps forever? What if I get arrested? Go to jail? My future is as good as done.

I shake the shirt again and again. Why didn’t the dust work on me?

Leo steps closer, grabs my shirt. “It’s gone.”

Gone? All of it? I inspect my shirt, my arms, my pants. He’s right. There isn’t one speck of glittering dust on me or the ground around me. It’s like it never existed.

He lets his end of the shirt fall. “So, what happened?”

I glance at the sleeping flock. “I don’t know. I swear. When they left, the girl came. Actually, I don’t know if they left because she came, or she showed after they left. It’s not really clear. I’m still freaked.”

A shiver rattles my bones. I’ve done something I’ve never done before. I’ve left myself open to ridicule. Leo’s gone completely unreadable. I struggle back into my shirt. “I know how this sounds, but I swear, I chased her and then she disappeared.”

“Are we talking about a ghost?”

I’m not about to tell him I’ve been dreaming about her. “Yeah. I mean, she looks like one and acts like one, so…she’s a ghost, right?”

“Bro…”

“I know. See? Who’s going to believe that? Any of this?” I plunge my fingers through my hair, straining to keep from screaming, and finally rasp, “What if my grandpa doesn’t wake up?”

“Then you inherit the farm.”

I gape at him in horror. “I-I don’t want the farm. I don’t even like sheep or any of this crap.”

“I’m kidding. Get a grip. He’s asleep, not dead.” He scans the meadow. “Shelley’s my best breeder. I shouldn’t have left her, but she didn’t take this time around. She’s the first lamb the boss gave me to bond with. She’s sweet and smart and…” He clears his throat. “We gotta find her. Any suggestions? And crazy’s no problem.”

It seems ‘crazy’ is all that’s happening around here between Grandpa’s sudden case of narcolepsy and Leo’s disturbing relationship with his ewe. The guy seems a little too attached to his farm animals. “Okay, if all this is all real, and those little glowing monsters took the ewe, they must have lifted her off the ground to do it. They can fly.”

I check Leo for his reaction. He’s trying to cover up his alarm, but it screams from his eyes. “Huh?”

Why look at me like that? He said he’d welcome crazy. “I thought they were fireflies, remember? It explains why we never found any footprints around the dead ewe. When I first saw the lights, they were high in those branches.” I point to where we’d seen them enter the meadow.

“Magical flying lights and a ghost. It’s been a busy night for you.”

“You have no idea.”

Leo sighs, then slowly begins to nod until his head is bobbing with hope. He claps his hands, the echo of the sound fading into the trees, and grins. “Why not? Okay! Let’s do this.”

We decide to leave the ATVs behind and go on foot. I’m glad for that. With the flashlight from the foxhole clicked on, we enter the trees where Grandpa and I first saw the lights. A feeling we’re being watched creeps along my subconscious.

Get the sheep and get out. Get the sheep and get out.

“I can’t see a damn thing,” Leo complains after tripping over the dark undergrowth for the third time.

“Take this,” I say and hand him the flashlight. As always, my eyes quickly adjust to the darkness.

We make a wide circle of the area and come up empty. A good chunk of the night is already behind us, but there isn’t even a hint of light to be seen.

“This is hopeless,” Leo says.

I almost agree, but…

Something tells me to head back to the part of the woods where I last saw the girl in white. “Follow me.”

As we move deeper into the trees, the leaves whisper in the wind. Leo seems unconcerned by the noise. My gut tenses, but I press on.

Eyes glitter in the dark. A fox. More raccoons. Rabbits. An owl stares at me from the high branches. It’s like all the creatures of the forest have come out of their burrows to take a peek at the intruders.

Go away
, I say in my head.

The animals slowly retreat. I shake off the bizarre impression of power and push ahead of Leo.

Three quarters of the way to where the girl disappeared, a cluster of bright lights dance amid the leaves. I grab Leo by the arm.

He instantly clicks off the flashlight when I point toward the lights.