Jack James and the Call of the Tanakee (24 page)

Amelia reached for her neck instinctively, where her eagle feather once hung. She had nothing to help her, and, as a result, had nothing to tell Cheyton.

“I-I don’t see her.”

“What about you?” he grabbed Ayita by her elbows. “Do you see where Enola went?”

Ayita looked panicked.

“No. I’m not getting anything.”

“Enola!” Cheyton raised his head and screamed to the ceiling. Then he did it again, even louder. “ENOLA!”

Jack became stricken with the same panic. The only one who seemed calm was Takota.

“Jack, find her with the O/A,” he suggested.

“Of course,” Jack extended his fingers and the O/A erupted into being. He felt the rush of dimensional duplicates merging with him, giving him so much power, so much strength. He let it wash over him like a tidal wave and, with the multiverse at his disposal, closed his eyes and requested to see Enola’s location.

The world seemed to lose all color, becoming a drab and pitiful facsimile of what it once was. Vivid brightness dimmed to muted shades. Sharp contrasts between dark and light were subdued. All save for a set of double doors in the corner—a small closet used for storage.

“What?” Amelia noticed him smiling.

Jack grinned wider, and let the O/A drift toward the cabinet doors. The cabinet filled with color as the machine got closer, and the hue turned a deep, rich green. Enola’s green. Amelia and Ayita rushed to the doors and pulled them open. Inside they found a mess of linens and blankets and pillows. Cheyton used his dimensional power to reach the closet in one quick step, then got to work digging through the pile of bedding, yelling the whole time.

“Enola!” he tossed aside handful after handful. Furiously, Ayita and Amelia helped him, while Pud and Takota paced nervously.

Jack only smiled. He couldn’t help himself.

“What’s so funny?” his mother nudged him. “Can’t you see this is serious?”

Jack said nothing as the O/A collapsed into a solitary point of light, then popped into invisibility. He shook his head and watched the search crew reach the back of the closet. That’s when Ayita let out the loudest, longest gasp ever made by a living creature, followed by an equally impressive squeal for joy. Everyone else stopped what they were doing and exchanged confused looks.

Ayita laughed out loud and hugged Takota as he came near. Then Takota looked into that dark, snug corner and a smile grew from ear to ear. Pud embraced Jack’s leg, then Liz’s, Ben’s, and Lily’s. He seized and squeezed anyone he could get his little, furry hands on.

All the hatred, the desolation and terror brought on by Argus Cole and his dreadful family. All the savagery and treachery and ill-will, the worry and fighting and stale stench of malice lifted from that room at that very moment, and, as far as Jack was concerned, from the whole world. The universe, maybe. Jack’s eyes filled with tears. He scarcely saw his own mother and father, but recognized they were crying too. Everyone was crying. Not an eye among them could remain dry at the miraculous vision. On the floor, wrapped in a bed sheet, was Enola, batting her long, lush lashes. She cradled a silvery bundle so plump, so soft and furry, it melted Jack into a pile of warm butter.

THIRTY-FIVE

“THEY’RE SLEEPING…FINALLY,” Amelia put a finger to her lips and tiptoed from the makeshift nursery to join Jack, Takota, and Ayita in the hall. She urged them to peek through the glass at the slumbering mother, father, and newborn.

“Are they okay?” Takota asked. “I mean, the baby?”

“He’s as healthy as can be,” Ayita snuggled up to him. “A beautiful baby Tanakee. Maybe someday I’ll have one.”

Takota’s eyes widened. Ayita giggled at him.

“Come on,” Jack said. “I’ll buy everyone lunch.”

They gathered in the giant, multi-tiered complex of different food stations, all manned and ready to serve culinary delights from all over the world at a moment’s notice. The chefs cooked meals on demand, and Pud needed three trips to retrieve everything he deemed necessary for his burgeoning appetite. Three trays teeming with edibles like crab curry, five kinds of sushi, and, surprisingly, even a garden salad.

“Pud!” Ayita complained. “Do you really need to eat everything in sight?”

“Don’t worry about me,” he tapped his chest. “I can handle it.”

“It’s not you I’m worried about,” she waved her hand in front of her nose. “We’re the ones who have to live with you.”

“What?” a flatulent burst had everyone laughing at Pud. Everyone except Ayita. She wasn’t so happy. Jack also noticed the smile had been erased from Amelia’s lips, replaced by a frown of foreboding.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Don’t you think we should leave this place?” she regarded their surroundings suspiciously. “I mean, the Nagas know we’re here. We’re just sitting ducks.”

“Teresa’s moving the Black Pyramid, remember?” Jack said. “She’s reading the magical spell right now.”

“Yes, but…” Amelia stopped herself and stared at her own tray. “I mean…” she shook her head. “I just don’t know anymore,” she clutched at the area where her necklace once dangled. “Without my eagle feather, I can’t seem to get any of my visions straight.”

“What could the queen want with your feather, anyway?”

“I have no idea,” she shrugged. “But it scares me.”

“We should get it back, don’t you think?” Jack said, and just when he said it, he glanced to his left, at an empty chair, and saw a small object, bundled up and inconspicuous. He discarded the notion of investigating immediately, but a suspicious twitch tickled him, and he decided to check it out.

“What the heck?” he went to pick it up. Amelia must have seen it too. She was quicker, and snatched it first.

“My feather!” she let the beaded necklace hang down, holding the quill with both hands. Her face came alight. “Where did this come from?” she eyed Jack.

“I don’t know,” he confessed. “It was just sitting there.”

Takota jumped from his seat, sniffing and scrutinizing the area keenly.

“Some kind of mischief has been going on here,” he squinted. “I don’t like it.”

“Oh, Takota,” Jack sighed. “You don’t have to be in protection mode twenty-four seven, do you?”

Takota relaxed his stance a bit, yet kept looking.

“Amelia’s right. I don’t trust this place anymore. That feather just showing up like that makes me nervous.”

“The queen must have left it here on accident,” Pud chimed in. “She
was
in quite a hurry to leave. It’s as simple as that.”

“Pud, you should know by now there’s no such thing as simple when it comes to the Nagas. They’ll stop at nothing to get their hands on these children.”

“I know that,” Pud burped. “But I also know when to be thankful, and we should be happy Amelia finally found her magic feather, shouldn’t we?”

“Yeah, well, I guess,” Takota conceded.

“I’m with Pud,” Amelia slipped on her necklace. Right away, Jack noticed the change. Takota must have noticed something too. He hopped on the table and rushed to get in front of Jack. At first it was only a subtle quiver, a slight disturbance in the air. Then Amelia’s cheeks tensed up. Her jaw seemed about to explode. She trembled and huffed heavily and her already light brown eyes went white.

“Amelia!” Ayita hastened from her seat. “Amelia? Are you all right?”

Amelia answered with a tremendous gulp of air, her wide stare blank and colorless. Then the most terrifying thing. Her hair. Jack noticed something in her hair, and it sent him into an immediate state of shock. No way was he seeing what he thought he was seeing. Amelia always had the longest, glossiest black locks. It was her signature. That and her hopelessly light brown eyes. She radiated beauty, and Jack always went weak in the knees whenever she gazed at him, or whenever that silky, dark hair glistened as she turned her head. So intoxicating.

Not now. Now something took all that away. Jack, at the same time, felt confused, terrified, hurt, and angry. The emotions came rushing, and he knew his eyes weren’t deceiving him. He froze, not knowing whether to run to Amelia’s assistance or just run. And he had good reason for the confusion. In front of his face, only a few steps away, Amelia’s hair began to move.

It didn’t move like normal hair moves, tossing over a shoulder or blown by the wind. It moved like it was alive. Hundreds of slender, sleek snakelike things, undulating and standing, slowly at first, then one popped straight and opened at the end like a mouth with teeth. Sharp teeth. It shot out a slinky, forked tongue and hissed loud enough to scratch at Jack’s eardrums.

“Jack!” Amelia reached for her own head, into the suddenly lively tangle of black serpents. “Jack! What’s happening to me!”

Takota had to hold Ayita back, though she fought against him frantically. Finally, she relented, and inched away from Amelia as the serpents became more alive, more animated, and more violent. Ayita, along with Takota, stared up at Jack in frightened confusion. Jack could only return the gesture. Utter disbelief. But the truth hit him like a storm when the gloomy serpents whipped and snapped, elongating until they came to within inches of his face.

“Jack!” Takota tugged him. “Let’s get outta here! Come on!”

He stood still as a statue. He’d never believe it. Amelia. She was stationary as well. Facing him. Staring into his eyes. He pleaded with his look, and she pleaded with hers. Then, without warning, thin lines formed vertically on her forehead, then her cheeks, then down her neck. Her whole body disconnected into hundreds of narrow stripes, bands of black coils, stretching and taking flight.

“Amelia!” he burst toward her and felt all kinds of hands pulling him back. Then the dark monsters, their wings flapping in rhythm like buzzing bees, surrounded him. Takota materialized in front of him and growled, slashing at the air with his deceptively large and sharp claws.

“Takota! NO!” he held back his tiny protector. “Don’t hurt her!”

“She’s gonna hurt you!”

“Amelia wouldn’t do that!”

They watched the tempest of winged snakes, dark and murky and angular, circle about them. Like a tornado, the creatures lifted off the floor, higher and higher, along the curvatures of the walls, searching for an escape. Finally they found it—the ventilation shafts. Filtering out, clicking and clacking and buzzing, they slipped into the vents in bunches, cluster after cluster until each and every one had gone.

“Amelia! Come back!” Jack saw one final thing floating in the air. He reached out by instinct, snatching a feather. Amelia’s eagle feather. He filled his lungs and unleashed another, desperate cry.

“AMELIA!”

Also look for

Jack James and the Tribe of the Teddy Bear

Book I in the Jack James Series

Jack James and the Children of the Blue Crystal

Book III in the Jack James Series

From the author...

Thank you for reading
Jack James and the Call of the Tanakee
. It’s my sincere hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing this exciting adventure epic. If you wish to offer your feedback, I’d love to hear from you. Please feel free to write a review and let me know what you think. Thanks again,

-J.