Helpless (Blue Fire Saga) (5 page)

6. ROAD TRIP

T
wo hours later, Leesa and Dominic stood in front of a large gray clapboard home just off Washington Street, less than half a mile from the Weston Campus. Sitting in the driveway was a dark green Chevy Blazer with a big red and white For Sale sign in the rear window. The Blazer was an older model, but it looked to be in pretty good shape.

Leesa had found it on craigslist, and since the house was with-in easy walking distance, she had told the car’s owner they would be right over. And so here they were.

The sun had set almost an hour ago, but so much light reflected off the snow-covered ground they could easily examine the car without any added light. It was cold out, but not unbearably so. They were giving the Blazer a quick look over before calling the owner to let him know they were here.

The body had a bunch of dings and scratches like you would expect to find on a vehicle this old and also one small dent on the right front fender, but none of the damage appeared to be anything other than cosmetic.

“Looks good to me,” Dominic said.

“I agree,” Leesa said, pulling her cell phone out her parka pocket.

She punched in the owner’s number and told him they were here. A moment later, the front door opened and a stout, middle-aged man stepped out. He was wearing a heavy blue and green knit sweater and stained jeans. A thick, tangled brown beard made him look a little bit like a lumberjack. He walked briskly down to the head of the driveway and extended his hand to Dominic. Leesa could smell stale cigarette smoke on the man’s clothes.

“I’m Walt,” he said. “You must be Dominic and Leesa.”

“That’s us,” Dominic said, shaking the man’s hand. “If we decide we want the car, you don’t mind if we pay in cash, do you?

Leesa thought she saw Walt’s eyes brighten slightly at the mention of cash. He was asking four thousand dollars for the Blazer. That was a lot of cash. She bet he was already thinking of ways he could hide some of it from his wife and/or from the government.

“Cash works,” he said. “Works just fine.”

“The car looks good on the outside,” Dominic said, nodding toward the Blazer. “How does it run?”

“Like a top,” Walt said. “I’ve got receipts for all the regular maintenance for the last ten years, and she just had a tune-up less than three months ago.”

“Sounds good,” Dominic said. “Can we take it for drive?”

“Sure thing. I just need to see a license and we’re on our way.”

Leesa stepped forward and offered him her driver’s license. Since it was a California license, she gave him her Weston College ID card as well.

“My uncle’s buying it for me,” she said, using the story they’d agreed on. “So I’ll be the one doing the driving.”

“Fine by me, pretty lady.” Walt looked at the license and the Weston card briefly and returned them to Leesa. He handed her the keys. “Let’s go.”

Dominic got into the back seat, allowing Walt to have the passenger seat in case Leesa had any questions for him. Leesa climbed behind the steering wheel and turned the key. The engine started right up, despite the cold. She guessed Walt might have started it up before their arrival to make sure the engine was warm.  It sounded to her untrained ear like it was running nice and smoothly.

She backed carefully out of the driveway, beeping the horn twice before she edged out past the tall piles of snow at the end of the driveway that made seeing the street all but impossible. She headed toward Washington Street because it was the most cleanly plowed road in the area. She had never driven an SUV and really liked the height of the thing, feeling like she could see things much better than from car level. Too bad the Blazer wasn’t really for her, she thought. If it was, she’d be on her way to the Maston settle-ment to see Rave in a flash.

She drove for about ten minutes, testing everything she could think of: turn signals, horn, heater, radio, wipers and washer, even the air conditioning. She hit the brakes hard a couple times, too. Everything seemed to be working fine.

“It’s great,” she said to Dominic as she pulled back into Walt’s driveway and turned off the headlights.

They all got out of the car and gathered in the front of the driveway. Dominic pulled a thick wad of cash from his pocket—he wasn’t about to let the man see his magic wallet. Leesa watched Walt’s eyes lock onto the money. Catnip to a cat, she thought.

“I’ll tell you what,” Dominic said. “I won’t haggle on the price, if you’ll do me one small favor.”

“What’s that?” Walt asked.

“Let us take care of the paperwork. Give ourselves a bit of a break on the sales tax, hey?”

Walt grinned. “I’m all for that. Damn government takes too big a bite out of everything already.”

Dominic counted out the cash and handed it to Walt, who signed the pink slip over to Leesa and handed them the registration papers to fill out later. Dominic and Walt shook hands one more time and then Leesa and Dominic climbed into the Blazer, with Leesa again getting behind the wheel.

As she pulled out of the driveway, they could see Walt thumbing through the thick sheaf of bills and smiling. He looked up for a moment when Leesa again beeped twice to warn any oncoming traffic. She grinned. He was probably afraid they had changed their minds.

“I didn’t want this thing registered in your name, just in case,” Dominic said.

“I understand.” Leesa liked all the little ways Dominic was always trying to protect her. “Do you mind if we take this thing for a real test drive?”

Dominic raised his dark eyebrows. “What do you have in mind?”

Leesa smiled. “Well… I wouldn’t mind seeing Rave.”

Dominic laughed. “Go for it,” he said.

Leesa headed east on Washington Street, down the hill toward the river and then over to the beautiful arched steel Arrigoni Bridge. Once they crossed the bridge, it was all she could do to keep driving at a steady fifty miles per hour. She didn’t feel safe going any faster on the slick road, but her foot seemed to want to press down on the gas pedal so she could see Rave a little sooner.

She had driven to the Maston settlement once before, so she knew where the isolated turnoff was. Even so, she almost passed right by it, because the rutted dirt road had not been plowed—it was really more of a wide path than a road anyhow—and was almost indistinguishable in the darkness from the surrounding area. She found a spot along the side of the highway where the plow had pushed the snow back a bit farther than elsewhere and guided the Blazer into it.

“I forgot the road wouldn’t be plowed,” she said, disappointed. “It’s a pretty far walk through all this snow.” In truth, she didn’t see how they would be able to manage it—too bad she hadn’t asked Walt if he had a plow attachment for the Blazer.

“And you can’t call him to tell him we’re here,” Dominic said, smiling as he recalled their earlier conversation about cell phones.

“Ha! You’re right about that,” Leesa said.

A wild idea suddenly popped into her head. Maybe she could take advantage of Rave’s acute hearing. What the heck, she thought. They were here, it wouldn’t hurt to try.

“Maybe I can call him,” she said.

She turned off the engine and climbed out of the car. Away from the heater, the cold immediately enveloped her, so she quickly zipped up her parka. Dominic got out and came around beside her. It was so very quiet out here. The soft ticking of the Blazer’s engine seemed unnaturally loud in the stillness. The silence was perfect for her plan, though. She cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted.

“Rave! I’m out here on the highway. Come get me before I freeze to death.”

She felt a little foolish, shouting into the darkness like this. Rave was almost certainly inside somewhere. She wondered if he’d be able to hear her yell through whatever walls might be between them.

She got her answer less than two minutes later. Rave came walking up the unplowed roadway almost as if it had already been cleared, rather than covered in two feet and more of drifted snow. He was dressed only in a gray T-shirt and jeans. Out here, he had no need to conceal his nature by wearing heavier clothes. She couldn’t see his feet behind all the snow, but guessed he was probably only wearing his moccasin style shoes.

Leesa felt her heart grow warm as she watched him approach. The pale moonlight glinted off his coppery hair and a big smile seemed to light up his handsome face from within. She knew he must have ratcheted up his inner heat, because the snow in front of him was melting even before his legs touched it. The familiar tiny blue flames on his fingertips that were the only outward manifestation of his inner fire seemed brighter than usual in the darkness, reflecting off the snow in an eerie blue glow. Tiny bits of steam, also tinted blue by the flames, floated up in front of him as the snow melted. Behind him, a narrow cleared path marked his passage.

When he was about fifty feet away, Rave suddenly stopped and cocked his head to the side. Leesa looked around, but saw nothing amiss.

A moment later, she heard a car approaching on the highway. Rave had heard it first, of course. She knew he was making sure no one witnessed his magic. Turning to her left, she saw a silver pickup truck rumbling toward them. The truck slowed to a stop across from where she and Dominic stood. The elderly driver lowered his window and leaned his head out. His silver hair seemed to shine in the moonlight.

“You folks okay?” he asked.

Leesa realized he thought they might have had car trouble. He was just being neighborly.

“We’re fine,” Dominic replied. “We’re just waiting for our friend. Thanks for stopping, though.”

The guy looked a bit puzzled, like he was thinking about what kind of friend they could be waiting for out here in the middle of nowhere, but obviously decided it was none of his business.

“No problem,” he said. “You folks have a good evening.”

He slid his window up and drove away. When he was out of sight down the road, Rave continued toward them. Leesa smiled as he drew nearer.

“Hello, gorgeous,” he said as he melted the last few feet of snow between them and swept her up into his arms, lifting her completely off her feet.

The cold immediately disappeared from Leesa’s body. She clung to him tightly, burying her face against his warm neck and inhaling his masculine scent. God, she had missed him. Had it really only been three days?

They stayed that way for a full minute before Rave finally put her down.

 “So, what brings you all the way out here on a night like this?” he asked, smiling.

“Oh, no particular reason. Dominic and I were in the neigh-borhood, so I thought we might swing by and offer to take you for a ride.” Leesa grinned.

“Ha! Very funny.” Rave extended his hand to Dominic. “Hi, Dominic.”

“Hello, Rave. It’s good to see you again.”

“What were you doing when I yelled for you?” Leesa asked.

“I was practicing
Rammugul
with Balin.”

“Oooh, I like to hear that. Are you getting any better at it?”

“Slowly, but yeah, I think so. Still a long way to go, though.”

“Oh.” Leesa feigned a pout. “I guess me and Dominic might as well go home, then.”

“Not so fast.” Rave picked Leesa up again, this time cradling her in his arms like he did when he carried her long distances. “I’d let you go, of course” he teased, “but Balin would never forgive me if he found out you’d been here and I didn’t bring you by at least to say hello.”

He turned and headed back up the path his heat had just cleared, carrying Leesa easily. Dominic followed behind them.