Copperback (22 page)

“Thank
you, and I love you, too. My phone is about to cut off. I have to go.”

“Ok,
then you need to know, Derri–”

The
final beep of the phone came as it went dead. Her last words struck fear into
my heart. Something about Derrick. I sat with the phone to my ear, in the hope
it would turn back on and I could hear the last part of what she was saying.
Job watched me from the end of the bed in silence. The look in his eyes told me
that he could see I was terrified.

“You
stay here. I’m going to take everything out to the car. I just want to make
sure no one sees you,” I lied.

I
knew Job could sense everything I felt. He would see right through me and know
I was only giving him part of the story. I was uneasy about anyone seeing him
anyways, but the small bit of information from Sally made it worse. If Derrick
had followed us, there would be no way for Job to run. Derrick would kill him,
and I would have failed to protect him.

I
gathered everything to put back in the trunk – leaving out only a few snacks in
a bag for the trip – and stepped outside, shutting the door behind me. The sun
was deceiving, since the coolness of the morning air didn’t fit for early
August. Puddles on the ground from the rain were starting to dry up, as the
temperature was slowly back on the rise.

I
looked everywhere, searching the streets for anything I thought would be
familiar. The few cars that passed down the road just kept driving by, taking
no notice of my wariness. I could see a red vehicle out of the corner of my eye,
but as I turned to look at it, I saw it was just the back end of an older car
making a turn away from the motel. At last loading everything into the trunk, I
turned back to the room, still keeping my eyes peeled for anything out of the
ordinary.

Job
answered the door wearing the pullover and followed me out, swinging over
puddles with his crutches. Each time, he made bigger strides, hovering over the
water and walking on only the crutches till he reached dry pavement again. As
nice as it was to see him having fun, the phone call had put me on edge.

“Would
you stop messing around and get in the car?” I yelled to him.

He
had already circled around the car twice, enjoying the freedom to be himself.

“He’s
not here. There is no reason to be so worried.”

Stopping
at his door, he grinned over the roof at me and got in. I followed suit,
tossing the bag in his lap and closing the door. I waited till I pulled away
and felt confident that we were not being followed before continuing the
conversation.

“And
how do you know he’s wasn’t there?” I was curious to know his answer.

“I
couldn’t feel anyone else around, and the only thing I feel right now is you
getting angry.”

“Well,
if you would start acting your age, I wouldn’t be so upset.”

He
had already moved on to pulling the snacks out of the bag. He put the straw in a
juice box and sucked it till he was slurping the bottom and the box had
collapsed in on itself. After a few minutes of that, he opened the cookies,
taking out a handful and cramming them into his mouth at once.

“How
old do you think I am?” His mouth, full of cookies, sprayed crumbs while he
talked.

“The
way you’re acting? I would say six – give or take a couple of years.”

“Not
even close,” he mumbled. He pulled out another juice box to wash down the remainder
of the sweets.

“Seriously,
I would say thirty-five or thirty-six at the most.”

I
was afraid to guess too high and offend him. He easily could pass for thirty,
but I didn’t want to flatter him too much, either. His ego was already getting
too big for the car.

He
laughed so hard, I was waiting for the juice to come out of his nose. Obviously
I had made a wrong guess.

“How
old are you?” he asked me, attempting to control his amusement.

“I’m
twenty-five. Why?”

A
perplexed look crossed his face. He had a mouthful of fruit snacks that he was
trying to unstick from his perfect white teeth while he pondered my answer. He
took a moment to think it over and chew his bite before responding. “That’s
all? I thought you were older. I mean, you don’t look older, but you act it.
Now I feel wrong telling you.”

“Will
you just tell me? I’m not in the mood for guessing,” I complained. He was
making too big a deal about a simple question.

“Fifty-eight
– I think. I’ve lost track since I’ve been here.”

The
shock almost made me slam on the brakes. “There is no way!”

“Yup.
I don’t age like you do. It takes about twice as long. When you’re sixty, I’ll
be about ninety-three, but we will look about the same age,” he said optimistically.

“So
now I have to know. How long do you – I mean, your people – live?”

“You
know, it’s ok to call us Sayners. It’s not like you could say our real name.”

I
hadn’t thought about how I had been avoiding it. I had been watching how I said
things to him, worried I would offend him again.

“Sorry.”

“Don’t
be. I think we would live to be about one hundred and thirty years. Maybe 150
years on our own world. Not sure how long it would be here.”

“You’re
saying that you’re going to more than likely outlive me?” I said, not wanting
to think that far ahead.

“Nope.
I’m going to die of boredom in about ten minutes.” Now that he had cleaned out
most of the bag of goodies that was to last us the morning trip, he amused
himself by pulling on the cord of his hood till it almost covered his face and then
dropping it again.

“It’s
a long car ride. I don’t know how to entertain you for the next eight hours.”

“You
didn’t happen to remember any books, did you?” he asked, his excitement
building again.

“Sitting
at home. I could just ask you questions.”

He
sighed. “I guess you can, but I better put my seatbelt on in case you don’t
like my answers. That way you can’t throw me out.”

“I
wouldn’t do that. At least not while the car is in motion.” I gave him a look
so he knew I was joking, but he had already started to roll his eyes.

“What’s
with the sudden burst of energy? You’ve never been like this. It has been bugging
me since we got in the car.”

“Promise
you won’t laugh?” he asked, his voice not as light as before.

“I
swear.”

“Back
in the room, when I shifted around you…It’s like I could feel your energy, and
absorb it. It’s kind of something special we do when we are with someone.” He
blushed.

“Have
you ever done it before? I mean, back home?” I wondered.

“No.
You’re the first.” He was trying to hide his embarrassment.

“Does
that mean it’s like having – well, you know?”

I
was worried that he had forgotten to mention that his first experience with me
was something a little more than just a bit of showing off. I wasn’t ready to
take the next step quite so soon, and wanted to be aware of when it was
happening.

“That?
No. I mean, not really. It’s just an expression of affection. I thought – well
I wanted to–” He was stumbling all over himself.

As
cute as it was to watch, the subject had become uncomfortable for him, and I
could see he was waiting for me to drop it. He was starting to retreat back
into himself again, and I wanted to stop him before he would clam up from the
awkwardness he was feeling. I reached out for his hand, feeling it tremble in
mine.

“It’s
okay. I liked it.”

He
breathed a sigh of relief, knowing I wasn’t upset. The shaking stopped, and I
continued on my quest to learn as much about him as I could in a short span of
time. Most questions I asked were answered by “I don’t know” or “I’m not sure.”
It was as if I had asked him why the sky was blue. He had no idea how far they
had traveled to get to Earth, or how long it took. He didn’t know why we looked
so similar when we were from two different worlds. His best explanation was
that we may have been one race at some point in time, but how the races would
have become separated was still a mystery.

The
questions he was able to answer usually turned into more questions he couldn’t
figure out. He explained that the glimmer of gold in his eyes was from the lack
of light where he was from. All Sayner had the gold reflection, while Vesper
had green. He refused to explain why they were different, and managed to creep
around the subject of home anytime I came too close.

In
turn, he fired questions at me, asking anything he didn’t understand. I was
more than happy to tell him anything I knew. Most of them were about silly
things, like why we park in a driveway but drive on a parkway. Others had been about
things I took for granted. I was able to handle them all with ease. Eventually
his curiosity turned more serious, wanting to know why we tried to cover our
emotions, instead of saying what we really meant.

“It’s
part of being human. We are able to lie to others and lie to ourselves. Some
are just better than others.”

He
thought about it for a minute, taking in what I said and trying to make sense
of it, before talking again.

“How
many times did you lie to me?” he asked, his tone indicating that he wasn’t
joking anymore.

“A
few. I never did it to hurt you. I wanted to protect you. They were white
lies.”

I
knew where he was going. In the couple of weeks we had spent together, he had
been nothing but truthful. He may have hidden some things about his life or
past, but when he spoke, it was from the heart. I began to feel guilty about my
fibs. His reaction was not very pleasant. It was almost as if I could feel his
emotions, even without his ability. He was upset.

“Can
you do something for me?” he requested.

“Anything.”

“Promise
you won’t lie to me again. No matter if you think it might hurt me, or you need
to protect me. If you don’t want to talk about it, just tell me, and I won’t
question it.”

“I
promise.”

“Are
you lying?” He laughed.

I
laughed back. “No. No more lies.”

Partway
through the day, I had to stop outside of Chicago to fill up the car. Even as
far as our world had come in overcoming its reliance on gasoline, I hadn’t been
able to afford to convert my car entirely to New Energy. The small, makeshift
engine that Chase had fixed up for me still required an occasional fill up. As
much as Job pleaded to get out and at least pump the gas, I was still too
worried that he could be seen by the wrong person. I knew he was getting antsy
about being stuck in the car for so many hours. With the seat back, it was
still a tight fit for him. I caved in, giving him a chance to get out, but
instructing him to stay near the car and keep his hood up and hands covered as
much as possible. He didn’t question my authority, keeping his head low, to
prevent anyone from seeing his face.

The
store was desolate, except for a few motorists that still had older cars on the
road. I filled my arms up with a few cans of soda, chips and some deli
sandwiches, hoping to find a stretch of open land where we could get out and
have lunch together.

I
set everything out on the counter and reached over for a road map of the United
States. Between the two of us, we could find this canyon and never have to
worry about hiding in the shadows.

“Is
he yours?” asked the girl behind the counter.

I
looked up at her for the first time, having mistaken her for just another
teenager working at a convenience store. She was too exquisite to be employed here.
Her brown top was cut down in back, revealing the long mane of blonde hair that
ended near her lower back. Emerald eyes flashed the trademark glimmer as she
looked at me, waiting for an answer. I looked down at the counter full of items,
expecting her to realize I was examining her hands, barren of the mark. She was
a Vesper.

“Yeah,
he’s mine.” I managed to say.

“I’m
surprised you’re not worried about him taking off. I would keep a tight leash
on him, if I were you.” An air of arrogance filled her voice.

The
thought of telling someone I owned him sickened me. I never wanted to own him.
I wanted him to want to be with me. I could feel the knot in my stomach again –
the same one I felt when Derrick had told me what he had done to Job. My hatred
of this Vesper was already boiling. I needed to leave the store before I did something
I’d regret.

“He
does what he’s told,” I said. “He doesn’t give me any problems.”

I
wasn’t sure if it was working, but she continued to ring up my items. Her hands
moved quickly, placing everything in bags and handing the map back to me with a
smirk. My palms were starting to sweat as I took it, and I glanced outside to
see that Job had gotten back in the car. I kept my hand as still as possible
when she took the money and gave me back my change. The exchange was over, and
I would be able to escape without a scratch. Before I could grab my bags and
leave, she spoke again, crippling me with fear.

“He
doesn’t leave because he’s in love with you. You know that, right?”

My
heart stopped. It would have skipped a beat, but in light of the person who was
telling me this, it was the last thing I wanted to hear.

“No.
I didn’t know. Thanks for telling me. I’ll have to do something about it.”

I
began backing away, leaving everything on the counter, hoping that she had said
everything she wanted to. I had almost made it out the door when she chimed in
yet again.

“You
do know, Emily. You love him, too. If I were you, I would leave as quickly as
possible. People are going to be looking for you, and I wouldn’t want to see
you and your slave meet your fate too soon.” Her snide laughter resonated
though my ears.

I
didn’t look back to see the smirk still glowing on her face. I took off in a
run toward the car, without worrying that another driver might pull out and hit
me. She knew my name and had given me a warning, and I wanted to take full
advantage of it. We had to get as far away as possible, or else.

“Did
you get me–” Job’s voice trailed off.

He
already knew there was something wrong before I had gotten the key back in the
ignition. I didn’t want to waste time explaining it to him. I knew he would
wait and give me time. I heard the tires squeal, and I took off like a shot through
the parking lot and back onto the entrance ramp of the highway. Pulling into
traffic, a little sports car veered out of my way before colliding with me, yet
I remained focused on only one thing – putting as much distance between us and
the Vesper as possible. I could feel the car shifting beneath me, but as hard
as I pushed, it still was not going nearly as fast as I wanted.

“Emily,
you need to slow down.” Panic rose in his voice.

 I
could see him squirm in his seat, hanging on to the door, as we flew past
another car. Someone honked their horn at me as I cut them off, coming far too
close to them. Job pressed himself against the seat as he watched the cars
disappear behind us.

“You’re
going to get us killed the way–”

“Stop
telling me how to drive! Last time I checked, you couldn’t.”

“I
could a lot better job at it with one leg than you are doing right now!”

My
fear was feeding into my anger, and I was taking it out on the wrong person. It
wasn’t going to do us any good if we were pulled over or if we caused an
accident. I was able to pull myself back and bring the car down into legal
speeds again, but it didn’t make me feel any better.

“Do
you want to tell me what happened? Why you’re so scared?” His voice had calmed some,
yet was still alarmed.

“No.
Just find the place where we need to go. Maybe we can get there tonight,” I
said, loosening my grip of the steering wheel a bit.

Job
sat back, relaxing a bit more in his seat. He continued to look over at me,
pausing as if to say something, and stopping again. I ignored his nonverbal
requests for over an hour, concentrating on the road and getting to our
destination. I was afraid that I would blow up again, taking out the anger I
had for the Vesper woman on him. Eventually he stopped and moved onto the map, making
himself useful.

He
looked at it page by page, studying each state and moving to the next. As he
glanced over each page, he would run a hand across it, touching every point as
he worked his way up and down, memorizing every roadway and path listed. He was
in deep concentration – lips moving with no sound. As he got to the last pages
and still had not shown any sign that he had found anything, my heart began to
sink. We could be traveling for weeks and never find our destination. The Vesper
or Derrick would find us.

He
closed up the map after hours of intense study, letting it sit in his lap. I
waited for him to speak, but he laid his head back and closed his eyes,
mumbling under his breath. His hands were in motion, as though touching points
in the air and drawing lines to connect them. He had taking in everything the
map could offer, and was putting it together in his head. He stopped suddenly
and opened his eyes, looking over to me. “There are four places I found called
Dugout Canyon, but I think the one we want is in Utah,” he said hesitantly.

“That’s
good to hear. Can you tell me how to get there?”

“Are
you going to yell again?”

“No.
I’m sorry I yelled. I’m just scared.” I was still seething over the incident,
but wanted to put it aside.

“If
you don’t want to tell me, I won’t ask, but is there anything I can do?”

I
didn’t want to go into the details and have him be as worried as me, but I
needed to know what I was up against. Her threat of our fate coming too soon scared
me more than anything.

“Yes.
Can you tell me about the Vesper?”

“I
don’t want to talk about them.” He crossed his arms.

He
had skirted around the issue so many times, and I had always let it slide. I had
been avoiding the conversation so that he wouldn’t get mad. I wasn’t going to
give him the option again. “And I don’t want to talk about what happened, but
it looks like we are going to have to put our differences aside and just do
it.”

He
stopped his pouting and thought for a moment. He didn’t look too thrilled to
have to bend to my request, but he uncrossed his arms in an effort to show he
was willing to cooperate.

“What
do you want to know?” he sighed.

“What
makes you so different? I mean, I get the eye color thing, and you hate each
other, but are you the same in every other way?”

“No.
We can’t hear the thoughts of others. I can tell you how you’re feeling, but I
can’t tell what you’re thinking.”

“So,
they can read my thoughts?” The fear crept deeper. She would have known I was
getting the map for Dugout Canyon. It was no longer safe.

“No.
They can only hear other Vesper thoughts, or Sayner; they can’t hear humans.”
He paused again, taking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly. “There was
a Vesper at the gas station?”

I
nodded, unable to speak. She had gotten my name from him. He had been thinking
about me, but what else had been on his mind? I could see he was trying to
remember the same thing.

“What
did they say to you?”

“She
knew my name.” My voice was just barely above a whisper.

“Anything
else?” He was hanging on my words.

I
could have told him everything, like how she knew he was in love with me, but I
wanted to keep that part to myself. I wanted to hear those special words come
from his lips, and only when he was ready.

“She
said to leave – soon.”

“Is
that why you drove like a maniac?” He was smiling, trying not to laugh. His
demeanor had changed.

“This
isn’t funny. She threatened me. How do I know what she found out? You could have
had anything on your mind.”

“I
know what was on my mind, and she doesn’t know anything.” He chuckled again.

“You
want to tell me what you were thinking, so maybe I can be sure you didn’t blow
our cover?”

If
it had just been about his feelings for me, I was going to feel as though I had
forced him to say it. I wasn’t prepared to say it back yet. There had been too
much on my plate to think of the right time to say “I love you.” I wanted to
wait till I could be with him, in his arms, relaxed – not driving to escape a
possible fate of death.

“I
was thinking about how good it felt to stretch out, and not sit in the car.
Then I thought about the smell of the gasoline getting in my nose and how it
burned, and then I thought about what I said to you while you were sleeping
last night.” He was still unperturbed, not showing the slightest sign of
embarrassment over his thoughts.

“Can
I ask what you said while I was sleeping? You know – just in case it might have
given her any clues?” I was tense, waiting to hear those words, planning in my
head how to say it back.

“I
said ‘Good night, Good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say
good night till it be morrow.’” The words eloquently rolled off his tongue.

“You
quoted Shakespeare?”

I
was entranced by the poetry. My heart was melting, that he would tell me one of
my favorite lines. It was breaking down my fear. I wouldn’t have to worry about
him revealing his feelings too early, and I had time to say what I wanted on my
terms.

“I
liked it. It reminded me of us. Two people that had everything against them – that
shouldn’t be together, but defy the odds.”

“You
didn’t read the end – did you?” I didn’t want to destroy his fantasy of the
romantic star-crossed lovers.

“No,
I didn’t finish it. I was taking my time.”

“They
kill themselves. Romeo poisons himself, and Juliet takes his sword and stabs herself.”

“Why
would they do that? They were together.” He was having a hard time digesting
the thought of them dying.

“They
couldn’t live without each other.” I didn’t want to go into a long explanation
of why.

He
sat in silence, thinking over the new information. I had no idea what was going
through his mind. I wasn’t sure how to tell him I never wanted our story to end
that way. The best I could do was reach out to hold his hand. He let me run my
thumb against the bumps of his scar.

The
stillness of the ride was getting to me. I could feel the hunger gnawing at my
stomach, growling loudly, disrupting the quiet.

“It’s
been hours since you ate. Why don’t you pull over and get something? I’ll stay
in the car so no one can see me this time.” His eyes batted at me, looking as
pathetic as possible.

It
sounded like a good idea. I needed the stretch, and a break from the road. We
had travelled far enough that I wasn’t as worried about being caught. It was
still a nagging thought at the back of my mind, but it was hard to resist the
temptation of food and a rest.

“I’ll
stop at the next rest stop, so you can get out, too. That way there is less
chance of anyone seeing you. I’m sure you have to be hurting by now.”

He
moved around in his seat, wincing slightly. I waited for him to lose control of
the shift, sending him into spasms, but it never happened. He was able to
suppress it, and gave a roguish grin, letting me know he was doing okay.

There
were very few bodies milling about at the rest stop in the early evening. A
woman with a yapping dog seemed preoccupied with giving him a run and telling
him to stop barking at everything that moved. There was an older couple who had
parked their RV at the far end and had quickly made their way in and out of the
building before Job and I could get up to the sidewalk.

I
had a desire to pull him aside and be close to him, feeling his breath on me
again, just to have the energy to keep driving at the pace I had been setting
for us. I thought better of it, just in case someone noticed what he was and
decided to call us on it. Instead, by his request, I lead him inside, making
sure anyone who watched thought I was in full control of him. It felt a little
ridiculous to make such a show of it, since I had no desire to be his master –
plus, I felt it would look silly leading a Sayner on crutches, who obviously
wouldn’t be able to get around the building on his own.

When
I knew the coast was clear, I gave him money to pick out his own items from the
vending machines, and watched him stare at them for the longest time, trying to
figure out how to get the food from behind the glass and into his hands. After
showing him how they operated, he loaded up on candy and pop, while I opted for
coffee and a few provisions of my own. Carrying our items back to the car, he
kept his head low, and I followed his lead, giving him a nudge to throw him off
balance as the woman with the dog stared, holding him in her arms.

Keeping
a straight face and looking as menacing as possible was hard. His over-the-top
phony stumble made her look the other way in disgust and hurry to her car, not
looking back. It had been too easy. Just in case she was watching from her car,
I made an aggressive move, getting him in the car and slamming the door behind
him. I considered putting him in the trunk, but I didn’t want to stop again to
let him out.