Moonweavers (19 page)

Patty lines up a few more rounds before she gets to sit down at that time.  Shirley bursts through the door and heads quickly behind the bar with a brand new hairdo for the week along with some tabloid magazines she must have picked up from the hairdressers.  They often traded books and such every week so the customers would have new things to read.  Patty imagined Aunt Shirley probably did it for a discount.  Plus it gave her stuff to read when the bar was empty and the work was done.  In Shirley
’s other hand was a big bag of buns for the hamburgers she made in between the dinner and breakfast meals.  Mostly though, for the boys who worked the night shift because a lot of times, she ran out of her lunch and dinner meals and would have to cook something up quickly for the hungry men with their odd hours.  It was still a little ways to town from her establishment so she got all the outsiders.  The companies that were out of town and down by the river and the people who lived outside of town or driving out of town, making one stop before they left, always came to Aunt Shirley’s.  It was the closest place for another three miles.  Patty figured if she could of merged with one of the gas companies, the place would have really took off.  The place was very secluded. The new suburbs that were going up everywhere meant even more customers. 

She looked in the corner where the couple were now in the dark at a little table.  The flashes from the pinball machine had all subsided now and off.  The female was sitting on the mans lap rubbing his shoulders, intentionally shoving her cleavage in the mans face.  The boy quickly whispers in the girls ear and they both scoot their chairs back into the table and head quickly out the door, leaving the bottles at the table and a small tip for Patty.  Patty hears the roar of the truck and the couple leave the parking lot.  She quickly turns to greet Shirley and compliment her hair.  The loose strands that had hung down before were now gone and her hairdo was high and tight.  She often wondered how Aunt Shirley
’s hair looked when it was totally down.  It had to have been to her calves to be that high, she imagined, but she has never seen it.  She often thought about going with Shirley to get their hair done together sometime just to find out how they did it.

Shirley says to Patty,
“I see the savages didn’t eat ya,”  and giggles, teasing her young niece. 

“
It would take more than these guys to corrupt me,” Patty replied.  “Besides that, they obviously must not know who my aunt is.”
“Very true, young lady.”  says Shirley as she crossed her arms together.  “Honey, if you restock that cooler real quick we could let you out of here a little early if you would rather go back home.”

“
Yea, that would be great,”  Patty says.

Patty gets right on it, ready to get back home to Frank.  When she is done stocking, she grabs her purse and belongings and goes to the end of the bar and sits next to Dan.  She thanks him for keeping an eye over her and gives him a big hug before she leaves.  She turns to the others at the corner of the bar and with one single wave, says bye bye boy
’s to them all.

“
Same time tomorrow?”  Shirley says to Patty as she is walking out the door.

“
Wouldn’t miss it for the world, Aunt Shirley,” answers Patty, as the squeak from the wooden screen door cries on her way out. 

All anyone can see after that is Patty
’s dust as they look out the bar door. 

                                                       
14

The professor directs Scott on what tools to pick up for him as he works on the gravity mines that he is going to set out on the perimeter around the cabin. 

“Okay, Scott it’s the one with the red tip, the small one, next to the yellow one up there.  No, yea, that one.”  Scott grabs it in his mouth and paddles his paws over to the professor.  It sounds like little pow pats as he crosses the wood floor.  Scott gently lays it in to the professors hand.

“
Thanks,” the professor says and quickly goes back to work on the mine.  “That ought to do it.  That last one was a little bugger.  We started to run out of metal to slap these things together with.  We never used that VCR anyway though.  This one has a remote.  If I line them all up to this VCR  and I get a signal, I could set it remotely with this.  Pretty handy, huh?  I will just put this one right next to the cabin door and I’ll plug it in right under the steps there and bury the rest.  So you got twenty feet around the house.  If I set them all up, anything twenty feet away will get knocked down to the ground pretty damn quick.  I’m gonna set it on about seven.  That’ll suck them down just so that they wouldn’t stop breathing.  If I crank it to ten, well, lets just hope I don’t have to do that.  It won’t affect us ghosts at all, but if we want to keep someone really safe, it will be a nice place to keep them right here in this cabin.”

             
It’s about this time that Bear Claw and Tab walk into the room.  They wave to the professor and Scott into the living room from the lab and head down the hall to get the others.  They all merge into the living room together, while Tab and Bear Claw tell them about the events of the night, about how all the people were missing from the suburb and the accident.  Jade quickly turns on the television to watch the news reports.  They are now watching the bulletins how the events unfolded, just down past the woods in their own back yard.  They all look dumbfounded at each other.  The big ape man, Links, leans upon the counter, puts his head down and sighs.  They all turn to look at him.  When he looks up, he says, “I knew it was too easy.  Just like every three hundred years in the past, things fuck up.  I let you all down.”  He looks and scans everyone in the room.  “I was just hoping that this time, it wouldn’t be as bad as the others.  I thought we dispatched of it early with the wolves.  I’m sorry, guys.  There’s bad things that happen with the black matter when this happens and I have it from a good source, the old ones, that a lot of it has drained out into these woods here or somewhere near.  We have two problems.  I don’t think that’s what had all these people.  I can’t be sure, but there’s too much blood. It isn’t the way the matter works.”  His voice gets angry and louder.  “Also, there were traces of them leaving into the mountain area, our very own backyard and we don’t know where they are at?”  He sighs.  “Look, I don’t want you guys to fret too bad.  Don’t worry about it.  The old ones won’t let anything bad happen.  We just have to catch the black matter before it grows and it’s too late.”

“
But what about them poor people?”  Tab asks and folds her arms.  “Why aren’t we worried about all those people missing, Links?  We have to take care of that too.”  If looks could kill, the look that Tab gives the big ape man, should have knocked him completely dead in his tracks.  Tab was angry, very angry.  “If you guys aren’t going to do something about this, I am.”

Bear Claw interrupts and holds down Tab by the shoulder, back down off her tip toes.  He knew she was angry.  He didn
’t know if she was just trying to get a little closer to his eyes to talk or to jump and pounce on the big ape man.  He knew that Links didn’t deserve all of the abuse that he was getting right now.  He took orders just like everyone else.  He gives Links a loving stare, trying hard to not offend him for what he was about to say.  He catches his breath and then clears his throat.  He says, “Links, there has got to be a way we can help these people.  They are children of the earth, like you and me.”

“
Yes, I have been thinking about that.” Link says.  He starts to tap his giant claws on the granite counter top.  “I will need a couple of you to carry the giant water tank, the plastic one out back.  It would probably be quicker if we had a smaller party after the go after the black matter anyway.  I can lead the party.  The rest of you can go to town and guard it well.  I have a feeling if they are going to attack, it’ll be tonight.  It’s the last full moon there is for another  month.  Scott, I don’t know how you are going to react to this, but I would like you to come with me so I can keep a good eye on you.  I don’t know what’s going to happen to you tonight.”

“But them damn wolves that came down with me are going to attack some people probably tonight, Links.  I gotta do something.  I feel responsible”  Scott replies.

Link answers. 
“Even a better reason to come with me, Scott.  Trust me on this.  You’re too emotional for this mission and they are just like you.”

“
No, they are nothing like me,”  Scott said angrily, ending it with a bark and a growl.

“
Look, if we leave early enough, maybe we can get back before you change.  Professor, I was going to ask you to come with us too, but I think you would be better off in town.  With your new little gadgets there, that will keep anyone from entering if you set them up just right.  It will make for a good barrier around something, don’t you think?”  Links asks.

“
Yea, we could do that, no problem,” the professor answered.  Jade, I am going to need some help with this.  Do you think you could get me some humans to carry all this stuff?”
“On it,”  Jade said.  Jade gently sets down a book on the corner of the table, next to the couch, then walks completely through the wall.  Before the professor can even look up toward Links, Jades head reappears through the wall and asks, “How many do you want exactly?”

“
At least five,” replied the professor.

“
Okay,” says Jade and vanishes again through the wall.

Links looks to the captain. 
“I want you and the others to go into the town tonight and guard the other areas that the other gravity mines can’t get.”
“Aye, aye Captain,” the pirate replies.  “It will be a privilege and an honor to defend these land lovers from the rocky waves of the death that might wash upon these shores of this Marblehead Bluff town.  For if any of them wolf banshees show their ugly, beady, black eyes again, I will dispatch them with Sally here,” he says as he pulls out the sword from his belt and pinches the blade slightly with his thumb.  “Ain’t that right, me lassie?”

Links watches as the sword gleams an eerie response.

“Sharp as lightening,” the pirate grins.  “Sharp as lightening.”

The flash leaves the sword and the pirate puts it back in the sheath.  Then the pirate downs the rum from his mug on the counter, then slams it back against the smooth black granite.  He wipes all the liquid hanging off of his black beard onto his dirty blue coat sleeve. 

Links looks over at Tab.  “Does that make you a little more happy?”

The lady in the blue jean jacket says, 
“Yes, thank you very much.  I knew you wouldn’t let me down, Links.”  She hugs the massive arm of the ape man and sets her cheek along his massive forearm in agreement with his decision. 

Meanwhile, Jade appears at the highway, right before the entrance to the cabin.  A little red truck is driving down the road, moving along.  Jade is about a block down now from the turn and appears inside of the truck.  She whispers into the drivers ear to slow down and turn right.  The young passenger looks questionably at the driver as the truck turns.  Jade turns to the passenger, who looks like the mans son and whispers in his ear its ok.  He calms down and looks forward through the windshield in a trance.  The truck turns and goes down the road toward the cabin.  Jade tells the driver to back it up next to the aspirin shaped water tank so they could load it on to the back of the truck.  Without a word uttered, they stop the truck, pick up the tank and load it in the back of the pickup.  She tells the men to get back in the truck and turn the engine off and wait for her to return.  She goes back into the cabin. 

“I could only find two,”  Jade says to Links.  “Is that good enough?”

“
It will have to do.”  Links says.  “Thay do have a truck though.  That won’t work when we get to where we want to go when we get up on that mountain edge and two will work I need them for other things too.”  Links quickly just drops it there.  “Where are they?”

“
They are out in their truck now.”

“
Professor, we are going to go hunt for that black matter.  I am going to leave you in charge of the second party.  We are going to meet back here as soon as everything is done.  Elders from the closest districts will be coming here if we need more help.  I can get a hold of them really easy up on the mountain.  Good luck everybody and be careful.”

Links and his group head out to the truck.  Professor hears the truck in the distance as they head toward the mountain.  He scrambles over to modify the gravity mines.  Scott
’s skin starts to burn a little bit, signs of him beginning to change.  The process is very slow and very painful.  It goes on for hours.  It feels like the blood throughout his whole body is heating up and he can feel the burn running through his whole body like liquid fire until his nerves adapt to the changes within.  His eyes tend to water uncontrollably from time to time when the pain is so unbearable that it stops him in mid step as the bones inside start to grow, knocking him to the ground in spasms.  Then they would ease up a touch again as his body grew immune to it once more.  Long enough to take five or six more steps before it pulsated again within him.  The professor was prepared and reached inside his coat pocket and takes out a big needle.  He injects the dog in the rump.  Scott didn’t even notice what the professor had done.  He barely hears what the professor said.   ‘feel better.’  It echoes in his skull from growing.  It prevents him from being sure of exactly what it was.  It was still painful as hell, but the needle did start to take effect, numbing it, easing it up now.  His snout grows more to match the width of the teeth.  He blinks his eyes shut tight trying to reflect any pain at all from it.  It is so unbearable, but he tries to take his thoughts out of the experience.  The professor replies to the others that are scrambling to put the gravity mines into the Bronco out back.  “That’s about all we can do for him.”