Matt Archer: Legend (15 page)

A few days before Christmas, Will and I went out for some
last-minute shopping.

 “So Mamie keeps going on about this awesome sweater she
bought me,” I said with trepidation, remembering Brent’s warning about his own
Mamie sweater experience. His had
dogs
on the front of it. “I’m kinda
afraid to see what it is.”

“I would be, too.” Will said as he eased the BMW into a
space at the very back of the parking lot. “Wonder if we can pick up few girls
with our other purchases? There’s sure to be a few cute ones around here
somewhere.”

“You’re on the market again?” I asked, surprised. “What
about tiny Penn the Destroyer? You said you were on a mission from God or
something, trying to get her to go out with you.”

He pulled the keys from the ignition and stared at them as
they swung on his finger. “I gave up. She doesn’t want anything to do with me.
It took a while, but I realized stalking her made me look like a loser.” Will
gave me a half-smile. “Seems you were right about that.”

“Sorry, man.”

We got out of the car and the wind almost sliced me open.
Even though I’d been home awhile, I had trouble adjusting to the cold after
being in the Kalahari. I turned up the collar of my jacket and struggled along
behind Will, using him as a shield against the blowing sleet. Cars had churned
up the slush in the parking lot, which froze into uneven ruts almost
immediately. I was so busy watching where to step, I almost missed seeing an
old lady carrying several shopping bags take a header on the icy sidewalk ahead
of us. She floundered a moment, but wasn’t able to get up on her own. Will and
I exchanged looks and took off at a hazardous jog.

Will caught up to her first, sliding on the ice to reach her
side. “Ma’am, you okay?”

The old lady blinked up at him. “Young man, I seem to be on
the ground.”

“It looks that way,” Will said, smiling as I joined him. “Are
you hurt?”

She shook her head. “Just my pride.”

“Aw, we all bruise that every once in a while,” Will said.
“May I have the honor of helping you up?”

“You certainly may. Just don’t ask me to dance afterward.”
The lady chuckled and held out her arms.

Will lifted her as if she didn’t weigh more than a cat and
helped her to a bench on the sidewalk while I gathered up her shopping bags.
What chafed me about the whole thing is that no one else had even bothered to
stop and ask what was wrong. People hurried by without so much as a glance.

“Now then, where’s your car?” Will asked. “We can walk you
there, if you want.”

“Oh, I had to park a ways out,” the woman said. She cast us
a worried glance. “It’s a far walk.”

“I have an idea.” Will fished his car keys out of his
pocket. “How about I go get it for you? And just so you don’t think I’m trying
to steal your car, here are the keys to my BMW. If I take off, you can keep
it.”

The lady gave him a playful slap on the arm. “You’re a mess.
But if you’d like my ten-year-old Chrysler instead of that BMW, I’m happy to
trade.”

Will exchanged keys with her, and I stayed behind to make
sure she was okay. She smiled at me. “Your friend is something else.”

That made me laugh. “You have no idea. Are you sure you
aren’t hurt or anything?”

“Oh, a few bruises, but I’m tougher than I look.” She patted
my hand. Her fingers were gnarled with arthritis, but they were strong.

Will arrived in the woman’s car and he helped her inside
while I loaded up her trunk. She blew us kisses before driving away.

“Guess we’re one up on good deeds today,” Will said. “Let’s
go eat before we shop. I’m starving.”

“When aren’t you starving?” I asked.

“When aren’t
you
starving?” he countered.

“Hmm…good point. Pizza’s on me.”

We headed back to the mall’s entrance, but a flash of auburn
hair stopped me dead in my tracks.

Ella was standing on the sidewalk on the other side of the
mall entrance, watching us. And she wasn’t alone. Tiny Penn stood next to her,
staring our direction with her mouth slightly open.

Will skidded to a halt. “I kind of forgot to tell you
something.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Yeah?”

“Penn and Ella are besties now. They started hanging out a
few weeks after you left. They work at an after-school center together, taking
care of kindergartners in the afternoons, and they’re pretty tight these days.”

Irony must really hate my ass. And Will’s. “Well, we can’t
stand out here in the sleet, staring at them, without looking like a couple of
desperate idiots.”

“No,” Will said. “We can’t.”

Neither of us moved.

Penn tugged at Ella’s coat and they had a quiet
conversation, hiding their mouths behind mittened hands, obviously talking
about us. This would’ve been a good time to leave but Will and I couldn’t seem
to take a step. Penn nodded at something Ella said, then flitted in our
direction. Ella turned the other way, heading for the parking lot. My stomach
sank in disappointment. No offense to Will, but I’d hoped for the opposite
scenario.

Penn, bundled up in a pink coat and wearing a gray watch cap
with pink seals printed on it, stopped two feet in front of Will and put her
hands on her hips. “Was that you, helping that older lady just now?”

“Who, Gladys?” he asked.

I turned to him. “Was that her name?”

“Yeah. She made me give her my address so she can send me a
scarf. She’s gonna make one for you, too.”

“Sweet,” I said, knowing I’d have to wear it if Mamie ever
heard about my boy scout behavior. Hopefully it’d be a manly scarf, navy blue
cashmere or something, instead of one made out of red yarn with a teddy bear
pattern decorating the ends.

Penn looked between us. “Seriously? You even drove her car
up for her.”

Will shrugged. For once he wasn’t acting like an overstuffed
jerk or a stammering dork in front of her. He’d really given up. “Falling on
ice sucks, no matter how old you are.”

Penn glanced at me. “Does he do this kind of thing often?”

Confused, I said, “Well, yeah. Somebody needs help, we take
care of it.”

In more ways than one, but that wasn’t something we could
explain.

“Huh. That’s what Ella said, too. I just wanted to hear it
from you.” Penn rummaged in her purse and pulled out a purple Sharpie. “Hold
out your hand.”

Will’s forehead wrinkled but he pulled off his glove and
held out his right hand. Penn scrawled something on his palm. “That’s my cell
and I’ll be sorely disappointed if you don’t text me within the next
twenty-four hours. Don’t make me regret it, Giant-Will-from-Billings.”

“I won’t,” Will said, smiling. “But only if I can call you
Tiny-Penn-the-Destroyer.”

“Oh, my God, I
love
that!” she said, laughing. “It’s
true, too. So be careful what you wish for.”

With that, she hurried to the curb where Ella’s Mazda now
waited. I turned my attention to Ella, wondering what she’d told Penn about us
to make her change her mind about Will. Ella gave me a small smile, then pulled
away.

A pang caught my heart. More than a month in Africa, and the
sight of her was enough to knock the air out of my lungs.

“You stole my nickname for her, man,” I said, following Will
into the mall. “Stole it and I got no credit.”

“Nah, I just borrowed the nickname,” he said. “But pizza’s
on me now.”

“Deal.”

* * *

Christmas turned out to be kind of great. Mom gave me a
compass that had been my Grandpa’s and Mamie had surprised me; the sweater was
a plain, hunter-green V-neck—no dogs. That night, having eaten enough ham and
green bean casserole to feed half the Army, I went to my room to chill before
bed. Will and I would leave at six a.m. to catch our flight to D.C. to meet the
team and travel back to Botswana. Will, for once, was bummed to leave home.
He’d already taken Penn out twice, and kept moaning about leaving her behind.

“But I only just kissed her the first time last night,” he’d
told me Christmas Eve. “She’s so little, I had to pick her up off the floor to
do it right. Then she told me if I didn’t put her down, she’d have to throw an
elbow. I kissed her again, thinking she was kidding, and she elbowed me in the
ribs, but she was laughing, too. It was awesome.”

That mental image made me laugh, but it was hollow. “You
tell her where we’re going?”

 “No, not yet. I mean, I want to, but it’s too soon. I like
her a lot, so I thought I’d give it a little time to see if works out before
blowing my cover. I told her we were going skiing.” Will was quiet a moment.
“But I’ll miss her, you know?”

“Yeah.” Now he knew how it felt to leave a girl behind, but
I didn’t razz him about it much. Instead, I held onto the hope that someday I’d
have a girlfriend again, someone who’d be waiting for me to come home so she
could kiss all my bruises and make them better.

Which made the next half hour fairly ironic.

Just as I settled in to read, Brent flung my door open
without knocking, carrying a plastic shopping bag of all things. I glanced up
at him, annoyed. “What the hell, dude? You born in a barn or something?”

He grunted. “I wanted to talk to you. Man-to-man.”

That sounded ominous. I sat up slowly and put my magazine on
the nightstand. So far we’d maintained, if not world peace,
Archer-family-no-broken-dishes peace. Had Brent decided he’d had enough
strained politeness? I crossed my arms and leveled a cool stare at him. “I was
trying to rest up for my trip. What do you want?”

“Not to fight, so just…settle down.” Brent ran a hand
through his hair. “Okay, look, Mom said you’ve dated around a little bit.”

I got an uneasy feeling. “Not as much as you’d think. Why?”

He cleared his throat, looking really embarrassed all of a
sudden. “Anybody ever talk to you?”

Oh, God, we were having
that
talk? I’d rather take on
a pack of rabid hyenas than endure this. “I’m almost seventeen, jackass. Of
course somebody’s talked to me. Mom, for one.” I still had nightmares about the
chat we had when I was eleven. “And Uncle Mike, like, a dozen times.”

That earned me a mischievous grin. “I don’t mean the basics,
stupid. There’s more to this stuff than health class leads you to believe, and
I’ve been busy the last few years, so you might want to listen.”

My jaw dropped open. “Wait, what?”

“I’m here to impart some wisdom. Like what’ll get you past
second base and what’ll get you slapped upside the head. Or why being in a
hurry is the worst thing you can do, and when to back off. I can also tell you
how to be careful, but not boring or a total klutz.” He twitched an eyebrow.
“Got any interest in that kind of advice?”

“Hell yes!” I burst out, thinking it was about time someone
told me something useful.

Brent grinned wider and started filling me in
.
The
next twenty minutes were some of the most educational of my life; by the end,
my eyes were popped open as wide as they’d go. And my brother, if his stories
were even halfway true, was a freaking genius. Too bad I was between
girlfriends, because this newfound knowledge was begging for a tryout.

Assuming Tink didn’t interfere.

“Got all that?” Brent asked after wrapping up the fine
points.

I nodded, ticking off the big rules: “Back off the second
you’re asked, don’t ever assume
anything
, always call the next day and,
whatever you do, never wear ratty underwear on a date…just in case.”

“Right.” Brent stood to go, and held up the mysterious
plastic bag. “I got you a present. Merry Christmas.” He removed a box of condoms,
opened the top drawer of my nightstand, dropped the box inside, then slammed
the drawer shut. “And Matt? I am proud of you, even if I’m kind of a butthead about
it sometimes.”

After he swaggered out of my room, I stared at my nightstand
like it might explode. I also couldn’t help thinking maybe Brent wasn’t the
jerk I’d made him out to be.

“Is it always so hot?” Will asked, wiping his forehead. “I’m
baking.”

I cast him a worried glance. He’d been fidgety and green
around the gills ever since we landed in Botswana. The ride out to camp had
been a nightmare. Will couldn’t seem to sit still; he kept rubbing the back of
his neck and looking over his shoulder.

“What’s up, dude?” I asked. “You’re acting like you have
fire ants in your boxers.”

Johnson chuckled in the front seat, but everyone else was
too tired to comment. Even Tyson-the-monster-freak was quiet for once, not
going on and on about what we’d find after the eclipse.

Will blinked rapidly and shook his head. “I don’t know. I
just feel...wrong. I’m wound up tighter than a nun at a strip club.”

Uncle Mike groaned. “Cruessan, really?”

I choked back a laugh. “We’re almost to camp. You can sleep
while Ramirez gives his briefing. By dinner time you’ll feel better. It’s
cooler then.”

Ramirez and Murphy were waiting when we pulled into camp. I
sent Will staggering toward our tent, then went to meet them. They were using
the “casino” tent as HQ now. Brandt gave them a surly look, but didn’t comment
on the fact his playpen had been taken over by a superior officer.

“Major,” I said, “Archer reporting for duty.”

Ramirez nodded, ignoring Murphy’s snort. “Ready for that
blood-red moon?”

I glanced at the sky. The sun blazed down like a laser even
though it was early evening. In thirty-three hours, though, the eclipse would
begin and dark would reign. What would come out of the desert when it did? “We’ll
see.”

Tyson trotted by, carrying a couple of large equipment
crates. “I hope we get something cool this time, sir! The Cats were
interesting, but I’m hoping for something more…gnarly.”

Ramirez shot me a horrified look. “What does he mean by
‘gnarly,’ exactly?”

“He has a monster fetish,” I said. “He scares me a little,
to be honest. But Colonel Black said his references all checked out, so maybe
I’m just being paranoid.”

“Don’t that beat all.” Murphy stared at Tyson’s back. “I’ll
keep an eye on him, just the same.”

“If anybody can, it’s you, Murph,” I said, relieved. “Anything
happen while we were gone?”

The official report had been boring. Interviews of more
villages, a few random disappearances, but no monster sightings.

Ramirez touched his knife’s handle. “Buzzing every so often,
but no leads. Whatever’s out here is keeping a low profile.”

“Mamie mentioned a god of darkness and death over the break.
I thought I’d ask Zenka about it,” I said. “I talked to Major Tannen, and he
wants to take a scouting party out there first thing in the morning.”

“Maybe all three wielders should go, see if we catch any
signals,” Ramirez said.

I nodded, glad to be working with someone who took the
knife-radar seriously. While Tink wasn’t sounding an active alarm, a tiny
tendril of her consciousness had prowled my mind constantly since we landed. It
was like an itch between my shoulder blades that I couldn’t reach, driving me
crazy enough to wish the eclipse was tonight just to get the fight started.

I excused myself and went to the tent to check on Will. He
had me worried—what if he had the flu or something? We couldn’t afford for any
of us to be sick right now.

When I parted the tent flap, I found him sitting on the edge
of his bed, hunched over. His face was shiny with sweat and he stared at a spot
on the floor like it was the most interesting thing in the desert.

“What’s going on, man?” I asked. “You sick?”

“No,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. “At least, I
don’t think so. I just need to sleep.”

I stayed long enough to make sure he quit staring at the
magic spot on the floor and actually stretched out on his bunk. Hoping sleep
was all he needed, I went in search of an MRE. If I was to do battle with the Cats—or
worse—tomorrow night, I needed to slam down as much protein as I could, even if
it came in the form of a dehydrated chicken patty.

Hooah.

* * *

Will popped out of bed at dawn the next morning, waking the
rest of us up by playing Reveille with his armpit. I threw a pillow at his
head, but truthfully I was relieved that he was back to being his usual jackass
self. Maybe his malfunction yesterday had been the result of jetlag and total
climate change and not a killer case of the flu.

We went for breakfast, leaving Johnson alone to gripe about
losing beauty sleep thanks to Will’s less than Army-standard wake up call. I
almost told him that he could get a year’s worth of sleep and it wouldn’t fix
his ugly mug, but it was too early in the day to risk my life by ribbing the
lieutenant.

Camp was quiet and the breeze, if not quite cool, felt fresh
and new. The desert rolled on in all directions, an expanse of rocky soil, dry
plants and tiny creatures hurrying back to their dens before the sun rose
higher than the edge of the horizon. The scene was so peaceful it was hard to
believe we’d be under attack tonight. A twinge of doubt crossed my mind; what
if Mamie was wrong, and the monsters hit Peru instead?

The knife-spirit sighed in my head.
You think too much.

“You don’t know what I’m thinking,” I muttered. Will didn’t
even give me a second glance. He knew I wasn’t talking to him. “You can only
hear my voice, not my thoughts.”

Maybe not, but I can read your body language, and there’s
tension in your right shoulder and your stomach. You’re worried.

I blew out an annoyed sigh. Now she was stalking my body
language? “You know, you kind of creep me out when you do that.”

Give it a rest. We are joined, for better or worse. If I
could have my own body, I would, but I cannot.

“So I’m just your arms and legs…is that what you’re saying?”

This is a mutually beneficial relationship. We need each
other, so maybe you should quit griping.
She sniffed in an annoyed way.
And
I know when to leave you alone.

I stopped walking and crossed my arms over my chest, almost
like I was arguing with someone right in front of me. “Oh, really? What about
my date with Sami a few months ago?”

The spirit made an affronted “hmpf” sound and said,
I was
only agreeing with your own conscience. Don’t lay your decision to leave that
girl alone at my door. I know you as well as I know myself, and if there’s a
time you need space, I’ll make myself scarce. Today isn’t one of those times,
though, so stop whining.

“I wasn’t whining,” I said. “I’m going to eat breakfast now,
if you don’t mind.”

Of course not.
She withdrew to the back corner of my
brain, but I heard her muttering something about dealing with snarky teenagers.
Making things worse, Will had started shooting me amused glances. I really
wished I could give him what he wanted and saddle him with a knife for a day or
two just so he’d know what it was like.

“Not funny.”

He tried to force the grin off his face. “No. Not funny.”

Uncle Mike came out of HQ and waved me over. As soon as I
turned my back, Will busted out laughing. I flipped him the bird over my
shoulder and he laughed harder. Man, I just couldn’t win this morning.

“We’re rolling out to Zenka’s village in thirty minutes,”
Uncle Mike said when I met him by the mess tent. “It looks like Cruessan’s
feeling better.”

“No kidding,” I said. “Who’s going with us?”

“Ramirez, Murphy, Lanningham, Johnson, Brandt...the
regulars.” He looked at his watch. “Seventeen hours until the eclipse. We need
to make this trip quick so the wielders can get some sleep this afternoon.”

I doubted I’d be able to sleep in the heat, and a wound-up
Tink would guarantee a restless day ahead even if I wanted to try. “We’ll be
ready.”

Will joined me at the mess tent and we raced each other to
see who could finish a pancake and sausage MRE first. Will beat me by two bites
by swallowing his last pancake practically whole. I got the last laugh, though.
I hadn’t warned him how bad the trek out to Zenka’s would be, and every time
the Humvee hit a crater in the dirt road, Will covered his mouth and groaned.

When we arrived, the same group of boys was playing soccer
outside the village. Will took one look at them, then down at the two-thousand
dollar aviator watch his dad had given him as a hand-me-down, and hopped out of
the Humvee. Before the rest of us hit ground, he was already chasing the kids
around, whooping and hollering. Two of the littlest boys caught up and started
climbing him like a tree. Once they were settled on his back, he jogged them
all over the soccer pitch while the rest of the boys raced after them.

Johnson watched the whole scene with a tiny smile. “He gets
it, doesn’t he? He’s not any spoiled rich kid.”

“No,” I said. “Never has been.”

“Good.”

“Matt?” Uncle Mike called.

I turned; Zenka had arrived. When I walked over, she said,
“So you are back. Welcome.”

Zenka’s gaze was as piercing as ever, but it didn’t make me
uneasy this time. “Thanks. How’s the village been?”

“Lucky,” she answered. “No attacks here. Others, not so
lucky.”

Ramirez and Brandt came over before she could say anything
else. Brandt nodded once to Zenka. “How’s it going?”

“By ‘it’ do you mean my life or the nature of the universe?”
Zenka asked.

Brandt stood there with his mouth open. I grinned. “What’s
the matter, Captain? No witty response?”

He glared at me, but Ramirez moved in between us. “We’re
going to do more interviews. You want to stay and ask Zenka your questions?”

Nice of the major to open that can of worms for me. “Yeah.”

After they left, Zenka raised an eyebrow. “What would you
like to ask me?”

I hesitated, really wishing I’d been able to set up this
conversation better. “My sister thought you could tell me more about Gaunab.”

Zenka’s eyes went wide. “Did she? This sister is Mamie,
yes?”

“How do you know her name?” I asked, feeling a shiver run
from the base of my neck all the way to my heels. “I never said her name.”

“Marguerite Anise Archer or just Mamie?” Zenka’s smile was
coy. “I know lots of things, Matthew Jonathan Archer. Names are important. But,
what would she have you ask?”

It took a minute for me to get over the shock of being
called by my full name.

“Mamie thinks you’re in danger. A target for the next wave
of monsters,” I said quietly, feeling bad about delivering that piece of news.
“We plan to stake out your village tonight, because she thinks it might have
something to do with Gaunab. That maybe he’s behind the attacks.”

“Hmm. She may be right. Bright girl, Mamie.” Just then, Will
came in from playing with the boys. They were bouncing around him, laughing as
he dribbled the soccer ball into the village. Zenka eyed Will for a long time,
then turned to me. “Who is that boy?”

“My best friend, Will,” I said. “I kind of…blackmailed the
Army into letting him be on the team.”

She continued to stare. Will looked over and smiled at her,
then went back to chasing kids. Zenka nodded and muttered something in her
native language. “Come, I need to speak with you. Alone.”

Zenka turned and walked away before I could say anything.
The knife gave me a nudge to go with her; my curiosity did, too, so I followed
along. She led me into the tall grass near the caves where the Shadow-man and
Sentinel paintings were. The sun baked the top of my head, and the grass
rustled with the sound of small animals trying to escape the humans invading
their turf. For some reason, I found it peaceful here in the grass…even though
I knew it wouldn’t last long.

Once I caught up to Zenka, we walked together for a long
while, with her asking me questions about my family and my life back home. I
was reluctant to answer, wondering why she wanted to know my siblings’
birthdates, or what my father’s name was, or if we all had blue eyes. Each time
I hesitated, though, the knife-spirit pressed me to answer.

It’s safe
, Tink whispered.
She needs to know.

I wanted to believe Tink wouldn’t force me to answer if I
refused, but I couldn’t be sure, not anymore. With each answer I gave, Zenka’s
eyes lit up with excitement. Finally she clutched my arm. “Thank you. Your
family holds our hope, Matt Archer, and the blood of the stars.”

I took a slow breath. Tink had told me the spirits had
waited for the wielders to born under the right stars. Was this related? “What
does that mean?”

“I don’t have all the answers.” Zenka touched my arm. “But I
will tell you the things I do know, so that you might begin to understand.”

Zenka motioned for me to sit with her on a patch of dry
earth. “Let me tell you a story, Matt Archer,” she said, “In the beginning, our
creator, Cagn, made a world underground, where it was always light and men
could speak with animals. We lived there in peace while Cagn created the world
above, this world.

 “The people went up first, then the animals,” she said.
“Everyone was happy…until the first night fell. The animals weren’t afraid,
because they could see in the dark, but the humans could not, and they grew
afraid. So they broke the only commandment Cagn gave them, and they built a
fire to drive back the darkness.

“Cagn was angry with them and withdrew from the humans and
so they were no longer protected from Gaunab, the master of death, lord of the
underworld. He now had dominion in the world. From then on, the humans avoided
the dead and the dark places for fear of being dragged down, and sought the
world of light and life they once knew.”

More light and dark, more life and death, good and evil. No
matter where I turned, I bumped into it. “So the Shadow Man, the one in the
cave drawing…he’s the master of death?”