Fort Morgan (10 page)

“
It would seriously
conflict with the girlfriend-corps,” Jeraine said.

Tanesha was silent for a moment before she
laughed.

“
Girlfriend-corps?”
Tanesha asked.

“
You know, you and your
girls,” Jeraine said with a smile. “You kill serpents and right
wrongs and take care of kids and love your partners in a single
bound. That’s a lot more than Superman does.”

Tanesha laughed and kissed him. She lay on
her back and stared at the ceiling for a moment. The air in the
room became heavy and tight.

“
What is it?” Jeraine
asked.

“
I just have this feeling
that we need to go back,” Tanesha said.

“
Go back where?” Jeraine
asked.

“
To the Sea of Amber,”
Tanesha said. “To deal with the serpents.”

“
That’s just crazy,”
Jeraine said. “Why would you do that?”

“
I don’t know,” Tanesha
said. “That’s what bothers me.”

Jeraine watched her face for a moment.

“
What bothers you?” he
asked in a soft low voice.

“
I don’t know if the call
to go back is real,” Tanesha said. “You know like, ‘I have to be
there to deal with this,’ or . . .”

“
The serpents are calling
you back there,” Jeraine asked.

“
Right,” Tanesha said. “I
mean, what if Jill, Sandy, Heather, and I are uniquely suited to
fight these creatures or at least come to some agreement with
them?”

“
What if you are?” Jeraine
asked.

“
Exactly,” Tanesha
said.

“
No.” Jeraine propped
himself up on his elbow. “That was a question, Miss T. What if you
and your girls are supposed to fix this?”

“
Then we have to go,”
Tanesha said. “We left King Manannán, Fin, and Abi to deal with the
serpents.”

“
Plus their army,” Jeraine
said. “That’s what you said, their army was there.”

“
They were,” Tanesha
said.

“
So why would they need
you?” Jeraine asked.

“
I don’t know,” Tanesha
said.

“
You don’t
know?”

“
I don’t know,” Tanesha
said.

“
But you’re going anyway?”
Jeraine asked.

Tanesha shrugged, and Jeraine flopped back
onto the bed.

“
What?” Tanesha
asked.

“
It could be a trap!”
Jeraine said.

“
I know.” Tanesha’s voice
was low and sad.

“
Why do you have to deal
with this?” Jeraine asked. “We just got our life together. Jabari’s
here. You’re in school. My head’s coming together. We are living in
the wonderful, lucky yellow house. We’ve paid off half of our debts
and then . . .”

“
Would it be better if the
serpents killed the fairies?” Tanesha asked.

“
How is that our
business?” Jeraine asked.

“
It’s not,” Tanesha said.
“And it is. Both.”

Jeraine sighed.

“
Can I come with you?”
Jeraine asked. “Maybe I could play some music that would put them
to sleep.”

“
Maybe,” Tanesha said with
a grin. “You certainly have some snooze-worthy tunes.”

Jeraine grabbed a pillow from behind him and
hit her with it.

“
Oh yeah?” Tanesha
laughed.

She grabbed a pillow and hit him back.
Laughing, they hit each other back and forth until Jeraine grabbed
her. He flipped her so she was under him.

“
You think you have time
for another round before you go save the world?” Jeraine
asked.

“
I’d better,” Tanesha
asked.

He kissed her.

~~~~~~~

Sandy sat on the couch with Rachel in her
lap and Buster the ugly dog, beside her. Rachel hadn’t breastfed in
a while. On nights like tonight, when Sandy’s mind whirled with
thoughts, ideas, and problems, she longed for the simple quiet of
their old breastfeeding ritual. She looked down at Rachel.

Her baby had a habit of sleeping with one
balled fist on top of her head. She was so incredibly adorable that
Sandy wanted to get up to take a picture. She knew that if she
moved even slightly Rachel would move her adorable hand. Instead of
taking a picture, Sandy just looked at her little child.

She wondered if she had a cute habit like
this when she was an infant. Andy had taken a lot of pictures of
her as an infant, but none while she was sleeping. Andy probably
didn’t want to wake Sandy, like she didn’t want to wake Rachel. The
thought of this kind of symmetry with her mother made Sandy
smile.

She heard the toilet flush in their bedroom.
Aden was awake and looking for her. He was going to want to know
what kept her up. He’d want to know how he could help or at least
make things better for her.

The problem was that Sandy had no idea why
she was awake. Hearing him move around, she watched at their
bedroom door. A few minutes later, he opened it. Noting her
attention, he leaned against the door. She grinned.

“
Why . . .?” Aden asked at the same moment
Sandy said, “I don’t know.”

She looked away from him a little too fast.
He came into the living room.

“
That’s not exactly true,
is it?” Aden asked.

“
I want it to be true,”
Sandy said with a smile. “Does that count?”

Aden grinned. He sat down in the armchair.
Sitting on something hard, he jumped up and pulled a video game
controller from the seat of chair.

“
I miss them,” Aden said,
and held up the video game controller. Sitting down again, he said,
“I thought we’d never be rid of them, you know?”

“
Rid of them?” Sandy
asked.

“
You know how much I love
all of them,” Aden said. “I just dreamed of when it would be just
us.”

“
Rachel needs another
seventeen years of our love and care.” Sandy gave him a chiding
smile.

“
I know,” Aden said. “I
just . . .”

“
I know what you mean,
though,” Sandy said. “I’ve thought of it too. When the kids move
on, we’ll get a home or maybe just rearrange this apartment
or . . .”

Sandy looked down at Rachel.

“
It’s kind of a way of
looking on the bright side of sending our precious kids into the
world,” Sandy said.

Aden nodded. His eyes traced her bowed head
and the baby on her lap.

“
And tonight?” Aden
asked.

Sandy shrugged.

“
You acted like this when
you were first pregnant with Rachel,” Aden said. “Are
you . . .?”

“
No,” Sandy shook her
head. “God, no. I can’t even
imagine . . .”

“
I can,” Aden
grinned.

“
Wipe that thought out of
your head, Mr. Norsen!” Sandy said. “Our kids are coming home soon.
Once they get that guy processed in
Arizona . . .”

“
The one Yvonne and Dionne
helped catch?”

“
Exactly,” Sandy said with
a nod. “Charlie and Nash will be home.”

“
Just in time for the
summer,” Aden said.

“
That’s right. Teddy will
be here again,” Sandy said. “Noelle with be back in a month or so.
And . . .”

“
We’ll have a full house,”
Aden said.

“
That will be fun,” Sandy
said. She beamed at Aden, and he laughed. “We won’t have room for
another baby. At least not for a while.”

“
Want to practice?” Aden
asked.

Sandy looked down at Rachel and back up at
him. She gave him a quick nod.

“
Will you tell me what
you’re thinking about?” Aden asked.

“
Oh,” Sandy said. Still
carrying Rachel, she got to her feet. “It’s nothing.”

“
Nothing doesn’t get you
out of bed in the middle of the night,” Aden said.

As a way of putting pressure on her to
respond, he stayed in his seat. She sat back down with a sigh.

“
So?” Aden
asked.

“
I have this
feeling . . .” Sandy touched her heart. Shaking her
head, she said, “Never mind, it’s stupid.”

“
I’ve never known you to
worry about anything stupid,” Aden said. “If you have a feeling, I
want to know what’s going on.”

“
I have this feeling that
we need to go back,” Sandy said.

“
Back? Where?”

“
Not you and me,” Sandy
said. “Me and Jill and Tanesha and Heather. I have this feeling
that if we don’t go back the whole world
will . . .”

Sandy shook her head.

“
You know what?” Sandy
asked. “It’s not my responsibility to fix the world. I’m just a
woman who lives in Denver, Colorado. I’m not a saint or an angel
or . . .”

“
What if this is your
responsibility?” Aden asked.

“
What do you
mean?”

“
What if you’re the only
ones who can fix this serpent thing?” Aden asked.

“
Then we need to go,”
Sandy said.

Aden nodded.

“
Why are you saying that?”
Sandy asked.

“
I have the same feeling,”
Aden said. “I had it the moment you reappeared.”

Sandy nodded.

“
Should
we . . .?” Sandy gestured to the bedroom. “You know,
before I go?”

Aden hopped to his feet, and she followed
him back to the bedroom.

~~~~~~~~

“
I feel crazy,” Heather
said to Blane.

They were in his hospital room. He was
sitting in the armchair on the other side of the protective
glass.

“
I know you’re not crazy,”
Blane said.

Heather gave a little nod.

“
Lay it out for me,” Blane
said.

Heather scowled.

“
Go on.”

“
It sounds crazy,” Heather
said.

“
So?”

Heather took a breath and nodded.

“
So, we killed this pair
of serpents, right?” Heather asked.

“
We all played some part
in killing them,” Blane said.

“
Right,” Heather said. “We
killed the male out at the barn.”

“
And the female under
Sandy’s salon,” Blane said with a nod. “That’s right.”

Heather responded to his nod with her own
nod.

“
And?”

“
I grew up with the idea
of the Sea of Amber,” Heather said and sighed. “The Sea of Amber
was something that existed, like . . .”

“
The Boogey man?” Blane
asked.

“
Sort of.” Heather nodded.
“I never knew anyone personally who was caught in the Sea of Amber.
It was something that affected my parents and their parents. Even
Perses said he’d never known anyone who was caught in the Sea of
Amber. The serpents were . . .”

Heather shrugged.

“
I mean, they existed, but
no one had ever even seen one,” Heather said. “I know about Hera
from my father. Zeus got caught there early on. It was kind of a
cautionary tale for men who liked adventure and thought they were
the ruler of this world.”

Heather shrugged.

“
They were like brown
recluse Spiders,” Blane said.

“
What?”

“
You know — they exist,
and their bite is deadly, but you put on your old sneakers without
even checking for them,” Blane said. “I mean, who do you know who’s
been bitten by one?”

Heather nodded.

“
That’s how the serpents
were,” Heather said. “Me, the Graces,
Mom . . .”

Heather shook her head.

“
And now?” Blane
asked.

“
I’ve now seen three
serpents,” Heather said. “More than anyone I know!
And . . .”

“
And?” Blane
asked.

“
I just have a feeling
that there’s a reason for it,” Heather said.

“
Like what?” Blane
asked.

“
Um . . .”
Heather shook her head and looked away.

“
Like you’re supposed to
deal with them?” Blane asked.

“
Like they’re moving to
take over the world,” Heather blurted out. She blushed and looked
at the floor.

“
Really?” Blane
asked.

“
Think of it,” Heather
said. “The breeding pair were here! In Colorado! If the female had
infected people, they would have . . .”

“
A head start,” Blane
said. “Makes sense.”

“
They invaded the fairy
world,” Heather said.

“
Through this Celeste,”
Blane said.

“
Right,” Heather
said.

“
Why would they do this?”
Blane asked.

Heather raised her shoulders in a shrug and
shook her head.

“
What
if . . . I mean, it’s crazy
but . . .”

“
What if?” Blane
asked.

“
Remember how I said that
we were on a boat on the Sea of Amber?” Heather asked.

“
And then it was just a
quarter,” Blane said. “Right.”

“
What if we
were
actually on the Sea
of Amber, just not in this time?” Heather asked.