Winter's Awakening: The Metahumans Emerge (Winter's Saga #1) (4 page)

“Do you have a pen?” Though my heart was racing with fear, my voice miraculously, didn’t give me away. Twelve years of isolation from the world was about to come to an end.

Chapter 9 There’s A Stranger In Our Midst

Alik and Evan took a lot of convincing. Even as I talked, though, I was digging through the bottom of the hall closet hoping to find a duffel bag. It’s not like we owned a lot of luggage. We never went anywhere…well, before now.

“He said mom was in danger? What did he say about mom, Meg?” Alik and Evan were taking turns arguing with me about the logic behind my decision to trust Dr. Andrews.

“I already told you what he said, boys…twice! Don’t fight me on this. Please trust my instincts. We don’t have much time. Find a tote or something and start packing some clothes. Don’t forget your toothbrushes. Get moving…go!”

The boys exchanged a look of resigned frustration and headed for their rooms. I heard shuffling and grumbling, but at least I didn’t hear any more arguing. Thank God. I found myself praying, even as I worked, “Please God. Please help mom. Help her be safe. Please help me make the right decisions for the boys. And PLEASE let Dr. Andrews be a good and honest man who will do as he says he will.”

A cold wet nose nuzzled my leg. I turned to look in to the worried eyes of my Maze. He’d never seen me pack before. Come to think of it, I don’t think I ever have packed. He looked upset. And if a coyote could cry, I would say he had tears in his eyes. But coyotes can’t cry, right? “Maze, it’s okay boy. We’re going to be fine. We’ll find mom and bring her home.” He looked at me with sorrowful eyes and whined. I felt the same way.

I forced myself to focus on the task at hand. My bag was packed and I’d set the animals out to graze so they wouldn’t starve. The goats would be just fine. I was more worried about the cattle. But there was plenty of green grass because of rains we’ve had over the past few weeks, and for the same reason, the pond was full of water for them to drink. They should be okay for a few days. I still wasn’t sure what to do about Maze, but if I stopped to think too much I may just curl up into the bottom of a closet and bawl my head off. What good would that do anyone?

The doctor was catching a direct flight to DFW from Kansas City, then a commuter plane to Tyler—the nearest town to us. He told me he would rent an SUV and be at our house no later than 5pm. He warned me not to answer the phone unless he called using our signal (one ring, hang up, then three rings). Or any knocks on the door. (Again, one knock, silence, then three knocks.) This sounded pretty hokey to me, but I agreed we needed some sort of code so I’d know it was him, considering we’d never met.

“I’m all packed, Meg. I also grabbed the documents I mentioned before. They may help us.” Evan looked older suddenly. His eyes had shadows under them and his face had a gaunt look to it. The poor kid shouldn’t have all this to worry about. This wasn’t fair to him. ‘Course, none of this was fair to any of us.

“Backpack filled with clothes and toothbrush, ma’am. I’m ready for my next assignment.” Alik was being stupid and sarcastic and I wasn’t in the mood.

“You can secure the house including all doors and windows. Everything needs to be in lock down. You could also stop acting like mom’s disappearance is my fault. That’s going to get old fast.” I didn’t want to fight with Alik. I needed him for moral support.

“Your wish is my command, your highness,” he quipped.

I shot him my I-could-kill-you-with-one-punch look too late. His back was to me as he strode down the hall, obeying my orders.

That whole day was weird. I kept hovering by the phone willing it to ring, and silently dreaming I’d hear mom’s voice on the other line full of explanations and apologies for not calling sooner. That never happened.

Some hours blinked by. Others dragged and felt like each minute hung suspended in the air for way too long before the next minute was allowed to begin.

The doctor’s warning, “she’s been found out” kept echoing in my mind. Found out? By whom? What had she done? She was such a good person. Mom had a heart of gold and the discipline of a soldier. I couldn’t imagine her ever doing something to make anyone hunt her down for retribution.

And why would Alik, Evan and I be in danger from them? What kind of sick puppies would hurt children? Now, we aren’t as helpless as the average kid with all the skills mom drilled into our heads, but still, they didn’t know that, did they?

Alik still wasn’t talking to me by 4:31 when we heard an SUV pull up. I peeked out the window without disturbing the drapes. A silver minivan, obviously a rental, was parking in front of our house. From the driver’s side a man emerged and glanced quickly around as if looking for any signs of danger. He strode up our walkway and knocked once…waited…then knocked three times.

Dr. Andrews had arrived.

I opened the door and found myself looking up at a man with crystal blue eyes and light hair who stood at least a foot taller than me. “Hi,” I said stupidly. “You must be Dr. Andrews.”

The stranger at my door smiled for the first time and relaxed just long enough for me to see he had a friendly demeanor, when he wasn’t scared out of his gourd.

“Hi, Meg. Are you guys all packed? We have a flight leaving in one hour from Tyler.”

Alik and Evan were standing behind me, quiet till now. “We’re packed. But before we get into your car, we want some answers,” Alik looked ready for a fight. I willed him to breathe and calm down. “Where is our mother, from whom are we in ‘danger’ and what are you going to do to get our mom back safely?”

“You must be Alik,” Dr. Andrews beamed at him. He was oblivious to the threatening tone Alik had just used on him. “I’m really glad to meet you and your siblings.” He said the last part while looking directly at Evan. “I’ll try to answer your questions. First, according to my sources, your mom’s plane arrived on-time at LAX. She had reservations at the Hotel Barton in LA, so we can assume she was headed there. She never showed up for her reservation. Your second question is a long story, but since we’re short on time, I will tell you you’re in danger from a corporation that wants your mother’s research and data that was based on you three. And the last, I’ll do everything I can to get Margo back safely. She’s probably the best person I’ve ever known. I respect her, and I owe her. There…are you ready to go now?”

The boys looked like perplexed statues, so I spoke for them. “Yes, our bags are all right here, and Maze can ride in the back of the SUV without a crate.”

“Who’s Maze?” Now it was Dr. Andrew’s turn to look confused.

As if on cue, my three-year-old silver-backed coyote weighing in at a whopping fifty-five pounds sauntered into the foyer. He sniffed the air gently with his keen nose, and for a moment, I could tell he was judging the doctor. It only took a few seconds for Maze to be convinced of the stranger’s good character before he sat relaxed on his haunches, cocked his head and let his tongue do that lolling-out-of-the-mouth-thing. There was another good sign. Maze trusted Dr. Andrews.

Smiling to myself at Maze and his ways, I glanced back at the man standing in our doorway. He must have been leaning down to pick up one of the bags when he locked eyes with Maze. He was frozen.

“Is that a coyote?” his voice was barely a whisper and gave away a tremor.

I’d never introduced Maze to anyone before, so I was trying to imagine what that big sharp-toothed coyote looked like to the typical suburban dwelling person. My smile grew. Yeah, he was a pretty fierce looking beast. Excellent!

“Yep, I raised him since he was a pup. He’s my…” I searched for the right word because “pet” didn’t fit him at all, “best friend. He comes too. That’s not open for discussion.” I added the last part with a hint of a threatening tone.

“Oh, okay, but he rides in the back. The airline is going to insist on a crate for…him. And probably papers, too.” The doctor stammered. It cracked me up that someone could be so afraid of this walking ball of furry love. Maze never hurt a fly. He eats dog food, for goodness’ sake!

“Well, I’ve got his vet papers here, but he won’t like to be crated. I guess you would know more about what airlines would allow than me, so I’ve got a crate we can bring. It’s collapsible so it should fit in the SUV for the drive.”

Chapter 10 We Don’t Get Out Much

The boys were already loading the rented SUV with our meager belongings. Maze took up the entire back of the vehicle even with the third row seats folded down.

I was the last one out of the house. I locked the door behind me, climbed into the SUV full of Y-chromosomes and took one last hard look at my home. Would I be back soon? Will anything have changed in my absence? Did I leave the light on in the pantry? Ugh. I had to force myself to stop worrying about every little thing.

One step at a time, Meg. First we get to town, and I get on the plane. That was scary enough because A) I’d never been to town and B) I’d never been on a plane. What if I hurled? I looked back at the boys. They were both staring out their windows with their arms crossed and faces skewed with worry. I imagine they’re just as anxious as I am. They’ve never done anything like this before, either. We were all taking a huge leap of faith.

As for Maze, he was sound asleep, snoring. On one hand, I was glad he was handling the car ride and the stranger so well, on the other hand, his nonchalance was getting on my nerves!

The look on the ticket agent’s face when he saw Maze was priceless! I seriously had to stifle my laughter because the poor fellow looked as though he added some decorative spots to his shorts. All Maze did was yawn in the agent’s direction. So he has a lot of teeth! He’s a coyote, for goodness’ sake!

That scene finally broke the chip that had been hanging out on Alik’s shoulder since morning. He was laughing so hard he got hiccups.

Evan wanted desperately to read the pilot’s manual while we were in the air. At first the pilot thought he was a quirky smart little kid, so he handed over the four inch thick guide with a shrug and a smile. He didn’t find it nearly so cute when Evan walked into the pilot’s cockpit and informed them that their dials weren’t all indicating the precise readings they ought to be and in essence, they were doing it wrong.

All I’ve got to say is, maybe we should rent an SUV from Dallas on the return trip. I’m pretty sure this small commuter airline would remember us—what with our huge coyote and smart-alecky brainchild.

I had never seen so many people in one place as I did when we walked off the plane and into Dallas Fort Worth International airport. It was huge. People swarmed everywhere! And all the different kinds of people, too! There were so many hair colors and styles, clothing, languages and accents.

And the smells! I didn’t even know what all of them were, but the aromas wafting from all the different shops, restaurants and vendors were dizzying! I was on some kind of sensory overload.

I kept looking over at my brothers desperately needing to exchange sympathetic looks of “Oh my goodness, what is all this!” But they were too engrossed in their own sensory overloads to notice boring ol’ Meg.

I’ll tell you what people noticed about us, but I bet you can guess.

Yep, Maze. I sat with him on a little golf cart-like thing and held his kennel while we zoomed past pedestrians. It was good someone else was driving, because by the time we stopped I was completely lost. If someone told me they would give me a hundred dollars if I could point to where north was I’d have to walk away empty handed.

I said as much to Alik and he looked at me like I was nuts. “What do you mean you don’t know which way is north? It’s over there.” He pointed casually toward what looked like a random wall. Sure it was, I thought. And how would I prove him wrong, I ask you? My point, exactly. I couldn’t.

Chapter 11 Some Q and A

The flight from Dallas to Kansas City was on a much bigger plane. Quieter too. I finally had time to try to get some answers from the good doctor. I knew we were strapped into these seats for the duration, so I started firing away. “How well do you know my mom?”

A shadow moved across his face as his eyes darted down. “She was my best friend for a long time. We met in college, she told you that much. Then we got hired by the same company after graduation. We were still friends for several years, but eventually we fell out of touch. She knew I would always be there for her, and she for me. Time just started slipping by too fast and our lives got busy. Then she moved away, and I focused on my medical career. We lost track of each other.” He sighed deeply and kept looking at his hands as if there was some clue to life buried there. I felt a wave of pity for him, but didn’t know why.

“Did you know our dad?” I pretended not to want to know anything about my father in front of mom. She would always get this seriously pained expression on her face when I would bring up questions about our dad, so eventually I stopped asking. But this was a rare opportunity to ask about him from someone who may have known him and wouldn’t feel hurt answering my questions. Or so I thought. My peripheral vision I caught Dr. Andrew’s face turning white. What the heck? Was my dad a serial killer or something?

“Yeah, I knew him. Sorta.” He answered noncommittally. “All I know is that he wasn’t ready to be a dad and took off before Evan was born leaving your mom to raise the three of you by herself. That’s what your mom told me.” He looked really uncomfortable. Hum.

I decided to drop that for now. There were other pressing questions, and I didn’t know how much longer he was going to put up with the queries. “What trouble do you think mom is in?” He took a deep breath and a sip of the soda the flight attendant put in front of him.

“Listen, Meg. A long time ago, your mom and I were working for a company we thought was trying to develop a cure for autism. Do you know what autism is?”