NOLA (15 page)

The noise of the engines negated any verbal conversation, but Father Peter managed to give Monique a few directions telepathically as they cut across the fairground’s parking lot.

Mia tripped over a fallen branch and went sprawling.  She landed face down, her pack riding high on her back.  She tried to get to her feet but was impeded by a pain in her thigh.  Mia rolled over, reached into the flap pocket of the hurt thigh and pulled out the charm Candy Kane had given her.  She looked at it and at the demon now bending down over her and thought Sticks was the biggest spider she’d ever come across.  She squeezed the charm and called out, “Weebee!”

Smoke moved out between her fingers that were clasped around the charm.  Mia opened her hand, and the smoke formed the head of snake.  If Mia had to testify in court, she would have identified it as a common garter snake.  But, in reality, it may have started off common but quickly grew into something that was beyond Mia’s knowledge.  The head shot forward pulling a thick, large body behind it.  Mia dropped her hand, absently rubbing her thumb over the now smooth stone.

Weebee quickly observed the supposed spider in front of her.  She grew in comparable size.

Sticks had backed off Mia in the early moments of the snake formation.  It eyed the phenomenon as if it were a magic trick.  How did this humongous snake come out of the little human’s pocket?  It reached out a boney hand and tried to encircle the neck of the ever-growing serpent.  When one would not do the job, it used two, and this was how Sticks found himself face to jaw with Weebee.

Weebee unhinged her jaw and grabbed the head of the demon as it wrapped its tail around the rest of the creature and swallowed.

Mia got to her feet and backed up, watching as Weebee ingested the demon.  The snake wavered a bit, and Mia could have sworn she looked a little nauseous.

“Oh dear.” Mia realized what had happened.  Weebee was used to digesting spiders of all shapes and sizes.  A demon was a whole new situation.

Mia bent over the snake and lifted the massive head, looked into its eyes and said, “My bad.”

A roar of machines preceded the blinding twin lights of the two hogs.  Mia put her body in the way of the bikes, jumping up and down, waving her arms to get the operators of the motorcycles to stop before further injury could be done to Weebee.

The lights were killed, and four people rushed over to Mia.

“Careful, I have a sick friend here,” Mia cautioned.

Candy’s eyes opened wide and asked, “Weebee?”

Mia quickly updated her as to why the spider-eating snake was lying in considerable distress on the ground in front of them.

“Weebee ate Sticks?” Candy asked, not needed to be answered.

“She saved me,” Mia said lamely.  “Now she’s hurting.”

Weebee raised her head, and her body and started to undulate.

“Back up people, Weebee is going to…”

As if on cue, the snake forced the demon out of her with an open jaw and a whiplashing of her body.  Sticks flew ten yards, crashing into the trunk of an oak tree.  He tried to regain his footing but kept slipping on the digestive juices that were running off of him, pooling at his feet.

Father Peter poured green chalk in a rectangluar shape on the ground and opened it with a few Latin words.  He had just started his commanding chant when he was interrupted by Sticks.

“No more,” the demon said and walked over to the portal and jumped in without encouragement.

The portal was closed, and the five started to laugh.

“I guess Sticks was so happy to be free from Weebee that he volunteered to return to hell,” Candy explained.  “Come here, Weebee, you have saved the day.”

Weebee slithered towards the priestess, shrinking in size as she approached.  Mia handed the stone to Candy, and the woman lowered it to the ground.  The snake moved over the stone and, as it did, became, first, thick black smoke then a wisp of gray fog.  When the fog had cleared, the charm was back to its original form.  Candy picked it up and offered it to Mia.

“Oh no, I’ve been irresponsible,” Mia admitted.  “I don’t think Weebee is too pleased with me.”

“Very well,” Candy said, drawing out a soft bag, untying the drawstrings, and placing the charm inside.

Father Peter held up his hand.  “I just heard from Honor.  She warns us not to return to the fairgrounds.  The theft of the motorcycles did not go unnoticed.  She suggests we meet back at her house in half an hour.”

Mia opened her phone and dialed.  “George, Mia Martin.  Do you think you could pick me and four other people up at…” Mia moved her fingers in a give-me-information motion.

“Desaix Boulevard and Moss Street,” Father Peter said loudly.

“Did you hear that?  Good.  How long?  Ten minutes, great!”  Mia ended her call and followed the group as they made their way out of the green area and over to the cross streets.

“So how did our intern do?” Becky asked.

“She held her own,” Father Peter said.

“Hello, and I’m right here.  I may be small, but I can hear,” Mia muttered.

“Mia, don’t be offended. Becky usually does her best to offend everyone, but right now, she is just curious,” Candy explained.

“Did you have a good time, dear?” Monique asked.

“Yes, matter of fact, I did.  I was feeling a little full of myself, and then Sticks wiped that feeling away, which is probably a good thing.  Better to be humble than  dead.”

“Sew it on a pillow, and call it a day,” Becky said.

“How was your afternoon?” Mia asked the three.

“Invigorating,” Becky blurted out.

“Illuminating,” Candy chimed in.

“Insulting, and that was just Becky.  After we got going, I was surprised that three of our targets never showed,” Monique said with obvious concern.

“All of ours were where Honor’s spirit guide said they would be, including Huff and Puff,” Father Peter said.

The mention of Huff and Puff caused the women to erupt into twitters, giggles and roaring laughter.

“Remember last year when Huff and Puff was at the Catholic girls’ school?” Monique asked her partners.

“Oh, who could forget Sister Mary Margaret’s expression upon seeing him fully engorged,” Candy added.

Becky threw her shawl over her head, stiffened her back and aped, “Really, demon, must you strut around like that?  We have enough cock to deal with when the priests come to hear our confession.”

“Tough old broad,” Monique said, her esteem for the holy sister showing.

Mia couldn’t help laughing.  Father Peter shook his head, but his eyes were shining.

George pulled up the sedan and got out.  He was dressed in casual clothes.  “My mother was ironing my shirt when you called. I hope you don’t mind,” he said to Mia.

“Not at all.  This was rather impromptu,” Mia said.  She eyed the ghost driver who seemed mortified by George’s choice in uniform.

Mia squeezed into the back with the three ladies, leaving Father Peter to ride up front with George and the ghost.

“He doesn’t know about his grandfather riding with him, does he?” Monique whispered.

“No,” Mia said.

“Well, we won’t scare the poor boy by mentioning it.  Can you imagine trying to cross a body over when your grandmother is watching your every move?” she asked.

“Unfortunately, I can’t,” Mia said.  “Grandma Fred never showed me her spiritual side.”

“Oh, that’s too bad,” Monique said.  “I find you can learn so much from your elders.”

“I was left to make my own mistakes, and I made a truckload of them,” Mia admitted.

“Hard way to learn but effective,” Candy said.

A loud rumble startled Mia.

“That’s Becky,” Candy explained.  “She’s tuckered out, the poor dear.”

“Well, we’ll let her sleep until we get to Honor’s house,” Mia said and laid her head back against the seat and let her eyes droop too.

Chapter Ten

Cid finished setting up the last camera and checked the feed with Ted for the fifth time.  Ted, who was normally a bit persnickety on his camera angles, seemed extra irritating to Cid tonight.  It could be that Ted was missing Mia and Brian or that Cid was anxious to get to the reading room to contact the children.  Cid decided to start off with
Green Eggs and Ham
and then read the
Tall Tales
version of the Paul Bunyan story.  Murphy would be standing by until Cid called for him.

“How’s this?” Cid asked.

“Look’s good,” Ted said, keying in the feed to the main monitor.

Jake, in his favorite Marvin the Martian guise, tripped across the bottom of the screen, ending up on his behind.

Mike, who just sat down, tapped the screen and asked, “What’s that all about?”

“That’s Jake speak for
I hope he doesn’t fall on his ass,”
Ted answered.

Mike helped himself to some of Ted’s Java Juice and set his mug down.  He pulled out a picnic-sized saltshaker and put a ring of salt around his cup.

Amused Ted asked.  “What’s that for?”

“Murphy proofing.  I noticed that the Sriracha sauce has disappeared from the little refrigerator.”

“I think you’re a bit paranoid.”

“No, just cautious.  Mia’s not here to shake a finger at the monster.  He’s on his own without mommy to censure him,” Mike explained.

“He only does it because he likes you,” Ted assured him.

“I wish he would like someone else for a change,” Mike said.

Jake responded by playing a gif of an anvil falling on top of the coyote.

Mike looked up and then laughed at himself.

“How’s your mother?” Ted asked.

“She’s doing well.  Last I heard, she had joined something called a Red Hat Society and is spending her afternoons doing teas and concerts.”

“Glenda doesn’t let moss grow under her feet,” Ted said.

“Nor anywhere else.  Frankly, I’m glad she’s busy. Otherwise, she would have figured out that I have a steady girlfriend and stuck her nose in.”

“Don’t tell me her name. I can’t be trusted,” Ted said.  “Is she the same one from your building?”

“Yes.”

“I think this is a record for you, Dupree.”

“I think the relationship is lasting because we don’t see each other much.  It’s tax season, so she’s pretty busy.”

“I’m glad that you’re taking things slow.”

“It’s tough, but this one’s a keeper, and I don’t want to blow it.”

“Ted, I think we’re ready to start, over,” Burt’s voice came over the speaker.

Mike watched as Ted’s fingers flew over the keys.

“I have all PEEPs on open mic.  Be careful what you say; you’re being recorded.  That goes double for you, Audrey.”

Her giggle filled the trailer.  “I’ll try, over.”

Mike took a sip of his coffee, pleased that it hadn’t been spiked by Murphy.

“I’m glad you’re here to help,” Ted started and instructed, “If you watch the reading room, I’ll keep an eye on the other five feeds.”

“That’s a lot to take in,” Mike observed.

“I’m used to it.  Plus, Jake has my back if I miss something.”

A small brown cartoon dog showed up with a large pair of binoculars.

“I’ll never get used to having a PEEP in the machine,” Mike said.

Ted turned and looked at Mike.  The dog dropped his mouth open, and large tears welled up in his eyes.

“Dude, you’re the first to acknowledged Jake as a PEEP,” Ted said.

“Murphy is a PEEP, and it seems to me that Jake has earned his stripes. Although, I think that Jake should be wearing a red shirt for a while.”

The dog spun around and now wore a red Starfleet uniform shirt with pride.

“Did Burt okay this?” Ted asked, noting Burt’s previous problems with the computer ghost.

“I just assumed he’d be okay with it.  Yesterday at lunch, he remarked how PEEPs was a force to be reckoned with, having a sensitive and two ghosts on the team.”

Ted nodded.

Cid walked into the reading room and sat down.  Audrey sat in the back of the area, monitoring the conditions.  Burt stood just outside the room, filming the event with the large tri-spectrum video camera.

“Showtime,” Mike announced.

Cid picked up the Dr. Seuss book and started reading.  It took a few pages before the entities chorused “
HAM!”
each time Cid came to the word.

Burt’s camera showed two small entities.  They were, most likely, children or small ghosts.  He had learned the hard way that small didn’t mean easy to manage, so he kept a respectful distance.

Cid finished the book and announced to the room, “I’d like to read you something different tonight.  It’s all about a giant man named Paul Bunyan and his big blue ox named Babe.

“The kids are still with us,” Burt whispered.

Cid finished the first tale, and Audrey raised her hand on cue.

“Yes?”

“I would like to meet Paul Bunyan,” she said.

“He’s rather large,” Cid said, making a face.

“Then I’d like to meet a small Paul Bunyan,” she countered.

“A small Paul Bunyan.  Let me see...  We need a man who is carrying an axe.  Not too many of those around here.”

There was a light tapping on the door, and Cid looked over and clapped his hands together.  “Why, it’s Mr. Murphy the farmer.  Hello, Mr. Murphy.”

Murphy stood still, letting the two children sitting in the middle of the room take him in. There was a boy of about four years holding the hand of an older female who was just a few years older.  “Hello, my name is Stephen Murphy, and I’m a farmer,” he said gently.

The two children nodded.

“Can I come and sit down and listen to the next story?”

The two children nodded again.

Murphy moved slowly and sat a short distance away from the girl who had put a protective arm around the boy.

“Is that you’re brother?” he asked, laying his axe down on the other side of his body.

“Yes.”

“I know your mother taught you not to talk to strangers, so I’ll just sit here and introduce myself to her when she comes to pick you up.”

“Mommy’s not coming,” the little boy blurted out.

“Then I’ll introduce myself to your father…”