The Siege (26 page)

“These three aren’t the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future, are they?” Ryan asked, flabbergasted.

“No, but that’s what you’ll think about when you hear them speak.  This gives them power,” Lorna explained.

“Most of us are enamored with English accents.  PBS, Masterpiece Theatre, and Bond films have us all agog over the Brits,” Tonia added.  “This fuels them too.”

“How long have you been tracking these ghosts?” Tom asked.

“Since they kidnapped a Navaho medicine man,” Lorna replied.  “They disappeared after that.  We had no clue where they were or where they would strike next.  That’s the reason we sent out all those cards.  We hoped some smart law enforcement person like your Tom would put two and two together.”

“What is this Other?”

“He’s a big problem.  Not for us, but for Mia.  You see, he’s the reason the medicine man was taken and many others too.  An Other is a dealer in powerful humans.  He enslaves them to his customers.  His clients use them for many things.  In Mia’s case, they would use her knowledge of the tri-spectrum and how easily she moves through it.”

“Tri–spectrum?” Tom asked.

“Mia can not only move out of her body, but she can navigate ley lines and travel the human mind.  Can you imagine the power a business man would have against his competition if he had Mia on retainer?”

“Like Gerald Shem.”

“Ah, the mind reader, a man who knows a man,” Tonia acknowledged.  “He can move only in one spectrum, and see what he has accomplished.”

“We don’t stand a chance out there, do we?” Ryan asked.

“Sheriff, there is always a chance,” Lorna said.  She turned to Tom and asked, “Before we go, can you contact Mia’s aunt?”

“To spread the word?”

“Yes, and she is the only sensitive that ever has escaped the contract of an Other,” Lorna informed him.

~

Bev stamped her foot in frustration.  “How the hell are we going to plan a party, give a party, and get to the party in all this white shit!”

Gerald looked over at the love of his life and said calmly, “It will stop soon, and then we’ll be able to assess the situation.  You wanted snow, and now you have snow.”

“I wanted snow in the mountains, not here!” she shouted.  “I swear Mother Nature has it out for me.”

“I doubt she even knows your name,” Gerald teased.

“Oh hardy har har,” Bev countered.  She felt a vibration and pulled her cell phone out of her pocket.  “Big Bear Lake Sheriff’s Department?” she read, continuing to look at it.  “I don’t think I want to take this call.”

“Doesn’t Mia live out there?”

“Yes.”

“Accept that call,” Gerald ordered.

“Alright alright,” Bev said and answered.  “Hello?”

“Ms. Cooper, this is Deputy Tom Braverman.”

“Oh, the cute little freckle-faced cop,” Bev said.

“Er, yes.  We have a problem out here that we’re hoping you can help us with.”

“First fill in the blanks.  Who are
we
exactly?”

Tom talked quickly, filling Bev in on what was happening out at the farm and that it was Lorna’s and Tonia’s recommendation that she be called.

“The Lone Ranger and Tonto wanted you to call me.  Why?”

“An Other is involved.  That’s O T H E R.”

“I know what an Other is,” Beverly snapped.  “Oh my god, and it’s after Mia.”

Gerald listened to Beverly’s side of the conversation, and when she lost her normal peaches and cream complexion, he insisted on taking the phone from her.

“This is Gerald Shem.  We’re on our way, but the roads are going to be impossible.  Why didn’t Mia call herself?”

“Our cell tower was destroyed a few days ago, and I think Mia’s phone lines were cut.  Aside from Ted, Cid and Murphy, she’s alone out there.”

“Don’t discount those three.”

“I won’t, but I won’t take them for granted either.  If Murphy was sent to find us, then the consensus is that they’re outnumbered.”

“Yes, I see your point.  We’ll rally the troops and head over.  I know a guy that has a snowcat.”

He turned around, and Beverly was nowhere to be seen.  He rushed though the corridor and entered his office to see her pulling on some warm boots.  “Well, stop staring, and get your ass in gear, Shem.  Did you really think that if I couldn’t make a buck on selling Mia, that I’d let some two-bit outside talker have a piece of her?”

“You’re concern is heartwarming,” he intoned.  “Outside talker?”

“You’d know them as carnival barkers.  That’s the name Hollywood gave them.  I’ll tell you the story later.  Come on.  Get us out of this city and over to that farm!”

Gerald picked up his phone and collected a few favors.  “Our ride will be here in five minutes.” he said, wrapping a cashmere scarf around his neck before pulling on his Vince asymmetric shearling fur coat.”

“You’re going to get red paint tossed on you, Shem,” Bev warned.  “It’s why I leave my furs at Mia’s.  Country folk respect warmth.”

Gerald refrained from saying what he was thinking.  He needed Beverly focused on saving her niece and not outwitting him in an argument on
country folk.

~

Mia salted her hot chocolate and set the shaker between the two of them.  “Are you sure I can’t tempt you?  Cid makes it from scratch.”

“I don’t eat or drink.”

“Are you dead?”

“That’s a tricky question.”

“I mean, all living beings have to eat to survive.”

“There are other ways to nourish oneself.”

“Well, go on, you have me interested,” Mia said, blowing on the hot beverage.

The aroma wafted over to Richard, and Mia saw his nostrils quiver. 
He does eat, the liar
, she thought.

“Cid does an excellent prime rib if you’re staying for supper.”

“I told you I don’t eat.”

“Then what do you get out of all this?  Power?  Power is so fleeting.  A nice, tender, medium rare piece of beef sustains me for quite a while,” Mia tempted.

Richard bit his lip.  Mia knew to back off for a while.  You can’t reel in a shark with constant pokes.

“Aren’t you cold?” he asked her.  “This cold isn’t good for the baby.”

“Actually, I am getting a bit chilly.  But the baby is nice and warm inside.  He’s moving around. Want to feel?”  Mia asked, reaching for his hand.

Richard reared backwards before he popped to his feet.  “I’m here to discuss a proposal from my client, not become one of the family!”

Is he saying this to me or to convince himself?
Mia questioned silently. She cleared her voice and asked, “Who is your client?”

“I can’t reveal that.”

“You can’t tell me whom you represent, and you expect me to invite you into my home to negotiate my cooperation in enslaving myself to an unknown person or entity?  You must be the worst of your bunch, Richard,” Mia scoffed.  She got up and salted a path behind her as she walked to the door.  She noticed that Richard walked around the crystals. 
What is he? What are his weaknesses?

“Are you inviting me in?”

“Let me go to the ladies room and change my shoes.  Then you can come in, Richard.  But I’m warning you, you’re not going to be successful.  Oh, and leave your scum outside.”

“I wouldn’t dream of asking them to join us,” he said and stepped back to wait patiently.

Mia walked into the house, past where Ted stood.  He was pale.  His concern couldn’t be more pronounced.  Mia lifted her hand to his face.  “No matter what happens, I’ll make it clear that the baby isn’t included in the deal.”

“For heaven’s sake, Mia, I don’t want to lose you!  There has to be a way out of this.”

“There is, but I’ve not figured it out yet.  I sense that if I walk away from the bargaining table, I lose.  If he does, then I win.  I just have to do my best to be irritating.  Right now, I’m tapping into my memories of my aunt and emulating her style.”

“Throw in a little Mike Dupree. I sense bawdy jokes are frowned upon.”

“Great idea!  Now, I have to pee and change my shoes as promised.  In the meantime, get Cid cooking in the kitchen.  Have him make a roast, and anything else with an aroma that will drive a starving man to his knees.  Sauté some onions, fry some chicken, anything that makes you drool.”

Ted looked at his wife anew.  “You’ve been hiding your light under a basket, haven’t you?”

“Great idea!  Flames.  Keep a fire extinguisher handy.  This is going to be fun,” Mia sang as she walked up the stairs.

Chapter Twenty

Murphy tumbled out of the vortex, his axe flying out of his hand.  He panicked for a moment until he found his beloved tool embedded in the skull of the largest of the ghosts. The goon didn’t know what had hit him.  He tumbled forward and disappeared.  Murphy picked up his axe and made his way quickly towards the farmhouse.  He saw the two remaining ghosts pacing back and forth in front of the residence.  The man in gray was standing, waiting impatiently at the door.  If Mia had succeeded in thwarting the Other, the man would be gone.  He saw, to his horror, Mia open up the farmhouse door and invite the Other in.  The ghosts tried to follow their master, but he turned them away.

He needed to get word to Mia, Ted and Cid.  Having the Other in the farmhouse made that impossible.  He skirted the parking lot and waited for an opportunity to cross to the barn unobserved.

He didn’t have too long to wait.  The pouting ghosts’ attention were on Curly who had abandoned his salt spreading attachment and had decided to climb the far post of the farmhouse.  He sparked a warning when the ghosts drew near.  This only seemed to make them more interested.

Murphy moved into the barn and headed over to the office where he suspected Jake was running the Curly show for his benefit.  The main monitor bore this warning.  IF YOU TOUCH ANYTHING, I WILL SO FRY YOU!

Murphy leaned his axe against his shoulders and raised his hands.  He watched as Jake put Curly through a few more maneuvers before disconnecting and letting the little bot fall into the snow.  The infrared cameras showed the disinterested ghosts move off, away from the house and down the lane.

“They’re guarding the entrance,” Murphy vocalized.

A massive eyeball studied him from the side monitor.  It narrowed into a glare before disappearing.

“I need to tell them in the house a few things, but I can’t enter that house with the Other in it,” he explained.

“Murphy, Jake just connected us,” Cid’s voice came over the computer speakers.  “Try speaking, and we’ll see if your voice transfers digitally,” he instructed.

“Help is on the way.”

“I got ‘help is on the way.’ Is that correct?”

“Yes.”

“Who is coming?”

“Tom, Tonia, Lorna and Ryan.”

“Did you say Tonia and Lorna?”

“Yes.”

“Whoa.  The odds are changing.  When will they be here?”

“Look for a white horse, and then open the front door.”

“Got you.  Thanks, Murphy, we would be lost without you.”

“Let Mia know that there is a barrier cone over the farm.  It’s being held by salt licks buried in the snow.  I will wait here until needed.  How is Mia?”

“Frustrating the crap out of the Other as we speak.  Now, I better get back to my fried chicken.”

Murphy wrinkled his face.  He worried about Cid.  Now wasn’t the time to be cooking.  Mia needed clear minds and ready muscle, not kitchen help.

Jake sensed the ghost’s puzzlement.  He flashed pictures of sumptuous feasts across two monitors.  Murphy, who had been dead for a century and a half, drooled in response.

“Ah.”

IS HE OR ISN’T HE? THAT IS THE QUESTION, rolled by in continuous marquee form on top of the food videos.  It was followed by, THE WAY TO A MAN’S HEART IS THROUGH HIS STOMACH.

“The dead don’t eat.”

EXACTLY!

~

Bev pushed at the hood of her coat, trying to get comfortable.  Shem’s ride, a snowplow, was the only thing that moved on snowy days like this in the Chicago area.  The driver, sufficiently bribed, barreled westward, ignoring the comments on the radio from fellow snowplow operators as he passed them.  He pulled off the highway and headed north to where Gerald was promised a snowcat was waiting for them.

“We’ve got a few minutes.  Do you want to explain the outside talker comment?”

Bev looked over at their rustic chauffeur and said, “Come on, tap into my mind.  I’m not reciting my secrets in here.”

A young Beverly rolled over, placing her hand on the empty spot Guillaume had vacated sometime during the night.  She was used to his nocturnal roaming, but part of her feared that one night he would roam too far and not return.

Most young women wouldn’t put up with this kind of behavior.  But Beverly had lost her heart to this Haitian-born magician, and the Cooper curse set in.  Her pride was constantly sidelined for the overwhelming compulsion to have every need of Guillaume’s seen to.  While most of her peers were pulling away from male dominance, Beverly clung to hers.  Had she been able to look outside of herself, she would have noticed that this behavior was pushing the man, who liked challenging women, away.

She moved through the cramped trailer, washing her body at the kitchen sink.  She put on the suggested gypsy costume, tugging the black wig on her head after pasting on the long spiderlike eyelashes.  Her nails were her own, as were the black lace gloves.  They let in just enough information for her to be successful in her readings; the rest she would make up.  Let the customer leave happy, confident that what the future held for them was wonderful.  A happy client tipped.

She stepped out of the trailer and stood balancing on the cinderblock step to take in the morning.  Beverly had gotten used to the smells of carny living.  Everything was fried or came from cans that could be heated up on the hotplates.  Only the clowns seemed to have the whole eating breakfast on the road thing done right.  They always had a pot of coffee on the burner, fresh fruit in their trailer, and homemade granola which they sprinkled over Mama Olhouser’s homemade yogurt.  Beverly had been taken in by the matriarch of the Olhouser Clown Troupe.  The two had developed an unlikely friendship.  Mama was all sunshine, and Beverly was cynicism personified.  Still, the two could be heard laughing at something one or the other had said throughout the small community of transient performers.