Scarecrow Gods (44 page)

He’d seen at least a dozen imposing cacti forming a circle. Each one was clothed. Each one seemed alive. The owl’s ears had detected a strange whistling. Each of the cacti had arms raised to the sky in a perfect cruciform as if begging a dead God to release them from their strange, earthbound pain. They reminded him of himself and of Bernie. Maxom couldn’t help it as he released the creature and slid into
The Land
.

He’d thought he’d beaten the fear. After all, couldn’t he now drive? Couldn’t he look through windows and see past the representation of the pain? He hated himself for his weakness. He drifted up and observed the nexus. In
The Land
view it seemed so benign.

Maxom shrugged free of the residual fear and sought out the other nexi. The farthest one was his goal, and within seconds he’d reached it. This nexus was like the other—no Rivers radiated from it. It was very small, almost the size of a life pad. He searched, but there were no other signs of life with which to merge. If he wanted to find out what this thing really was, he’d need to backtrack a little and get here the physical way. That would have to wait.

The fourth nexus was the strangest of them all. Even now, hovering, he watched it
move
. Except nexi didn’t move. They couldn’t move. They were locations of convergences only. Even stranger were the ghostly trails slipping from the nexus like cilia. Solid at first, they became more and more invisible until they completely disappeared. It was as though the nexus had been cast adrift.

He needed to see this in real time.

Although there were several life pads in the vicinity, none were the kind he needed. Human mostly and to merge with them was forbidden. The scarcity of desert life was working against him. He’d need to find the owl again and use it as a Taxi. As Maxom turned to go, he spied something dark moving across the landscape.

He whipped around, inadvertently drifting away at the sight of the Chill Blaine. Luckily, it didn’t notice him. It was heading away from the mobile nexus and moved towards the circle of cacti. Several times the Chill Blaine came into contact with human life pads but ignored them. Which was unusual for the nasty creatures.

Maxom followed it all the way to the nexus that represented the circle of cacti. The Chill Blaine seemed intent on entering. Darkness and light merged. Instead of piercing the nexus, the Chill Blain rebounded. Maxom heard its cries of agony and rage.

What was it? Were they afraid of the crosses as well?

Several ideas scraped through his mind, but before he could dwell on them, he found he needed to move away. Another Chill Blaine was heading towards the cruciform nexus. Maxom had already tangled with these creatures earlier in the day, and he had no intention of doing it again.

He’d enough information for the boy anyway. It was time to head back.

CHAPTER 20

Monday—July 2nd

37,000 feet above Sea Level:

“Can I get you anything, little fella?”

Danny glanced up from his map at the flight attendant—a young man with shoulder length blonde hair, feathered back like a girl. Danny stared blankly at him until he registered the question. After a quick look at the cart, “Uh, I’ll have a coke.”

“Caffeine free, diet, caffeine-free with diet or regular?”

“I’ll take regular, I think.”

The flight attendant poured Danny’s drink into a small plastic glass, placed the drink on the tray in front of Danny and, added a package of pretzel pin-wheels before moving on. Danny opened the package and put one in his mouth. He forced himself to swallow, chasing the salty piece of cardboard with half a glass of Coke.

“I don’t like those either,” said the man sitting next to him. “But on a flight like this, there’s not much of a selection. See, if I don’t eat at least every half hour, people will start to go missing. I just can’t control myself.”

Danny peered at the man and smiled, but kept his mouth shut. It was the second time the man had tried to start a conversation. The first had been when Danny had sat down. He’d become immediately aware of how large the other man was, his stomach layering onto the armrests so that Danny had kept his hands in his lap. The man had raised a meaty finger, pointing to the plastic-covered documents attached to the string around Danny’s neck and asked where he was headed. The documents were a dead give-away that Danny was an unaccompanied minor. The instructions said he was going to be picked up by his Aunt Barbara, who’d be very surprised she’d been designated to pick him up in Tucson; especially since she was in Maine right now.

“You know, if you don’t want those pretzels, I’ll take them off your hands.” The request was accentuated by the rumbling of his voluminous stomach. Danny slid the opened package over to the edge of his tray.

“Thanks kid. And hey, if anyone gives you any trouble just tell me and I’ll take care of it.”

Danny smiled. Yeah, the guy was probably okay. He returned his attention to the map that Tony had made on his computer. It showed the surrounding area, concentrating on the roads linking the major towns. Other than Tucson and Tombstone, Danny had never heard of the others—Sierra Vista, Bisbee, Benson. Armed with the map and the information Maxom had gotten from his recon into
The Land
, he felt pretty confident. In fact, he felt less nervous than he thought he’d be.

When everything was all over, he was going to owe some people big time, not the least being his mother. When she discovered he’d used her credit card to buy plane tickets and bus tickets, she was going to kill him. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if he was able to save Elaina. He hoped so, because that’s what he was counting on, otherwise his mother would send him to a boy’s school in Antarctica.

Then there was Tony. He’d downloaded maps. They’d printed weather reports, pictures of deadly looking animals, even deadlier looking cacti, and absolutely evil insects. Tony had been indispensable, especially since he was able to pay for Danny’s airplane and bus tickets online.

Then, of course, there was Maxom. Not only had he gone to Sierra Vista via
The Land
and returned with a lot of strange, scary information, but he’d helped him get on the airplane.

The ticket agent had looked at him funny when he’d shown up with Danny. “Sorry, sir. But there must be a relative to complete the paperwork if this young man is going to be traveling as an unaccompanied minor.”

“We are related,” said Danny. “He’s my uncle.”

Both the girl and Maxom had stared in silent shock for a good five seconds.

“But he’s black,” the girl finally said.

“Oh no!” said Maxom, touching his face.

“I’m adopted,” Danny said, ignoring Maxom’s lame attempt at humor. “Ain’t that right, Uncle Max.”

“Uh, that’s correct. Uh, Rebecca Jenks, the woman who paid for the flight, she’s my sister. She’s at the hospital right now.”

“Well, I don’t know. See, that person really should be here to—”

“You can call her, if you want,” offered Danny, his voice low. “They allow phones in the cancer ward now and she’s not so sick anymore after her chemo, just sad is all. I’m gonna go visit my relatives while she has her operation.” Danny allowed his voice to crack a little, just as they’d practiced in Tony’s room.

“There there, boy,” said Maxom, patting him atop his head just a little too hard with the metal hook.

“Oh My,” was all the girl could say. Within fifteen minutes the paperwork was filled out and, with a flourish of his hook that made the young woman gasp, Maxom signed as guardian. They rushed to the plane where, with only a few minutes left before Danny boarded, Maxom slipped an envelope with two hundred dollars into his backpack.

“You just be safe, boy. Both of us are as crazy as they come for doing this. Hell, I’m the worse for it for letting you talk me into it, but for a white boy, you seem to have a good head on your shoulders, so I’m gonna trust you to make it back safe and sound. Also, I’m gonna be there watching over you, so if you see a bird staring at you funny like, it’s most likely me so don’t go throwing any rocks at it. Okay?”

Danny had only been able to nod as a strange knot of emotion lodged in his throat.

“Boy,” Maxom added after a long pause. “I kind of liked the sound of that
Uncle Max.
When you get back, you can call me that anytime. All right?”

“All right, Uncle Max.”

* * *

A hand shook his shoulder and Danny woke with a start.

“Please put your seats and tray tables into their upright position. We’ll be landing in just a few minutes.”

Danny did as he was told, yawning. He didn’t know how, but he’d fallen asleep. The business of flying was a boring one. At first, he’d been excited about the take-offs and landings. Even though he was getting older, he hadn’t flown a lot. Other than this trip, the only other place he’d ever traveled to by airplane was New York City, with his parents when he was eight years old. That trip had been a straight shot. This plane had flown to Atlanta first, arriving late because of a thunderstorm. Danny and a young flight attendant had deplaned first and been forced to run to the connecting gate, barely making the flight to Tucson.

Danny checked his seat belt, then stared out the window beside the fat man and watched the lights of the city rise to meet them. The landing was uneventful. When the plane taxied up to the gate, which was not nearly as far away as the one in Atlanta had been, people started to get out of their seats even before the Captain had turned off the fasten seatbelt sign. Everyone began gathering their luggage except for Danny and the fat man. The fat man seemed content to stay where he was and Danny wasn’t even allowed to move without the flight attendant’s say-so.

The main door opened and the press began as the people in back tried to hurry the process. Danny was happy to be sitting and not queued up with the rest of the people. He was the perfect size to get elbowed in the head or pushed to the ground and it didn’t seem as if anyone would care. A slender man, handsome features and short hair, leaned down.

“My name’s, Teddy. What’s yours?” Danny stared into soft features of a thirty-something face. The man’s wispy brown hair was receding. His eyes were a cloudy blue.

“Move on fellow,” said the fat man in a deep steady voice.

The man started to protest, then his eyes widened and he moved quickly away. Danny glanced back at his companion and noticed the silver glint of metal beneath the inside breast pocket of the man’s sport coat. A badge? The fat man noticed Danny’s stare and grinned, his three chins merging into one.

Soon, it was Danny’s turn. The flight attendant seemed to have done this before and had removed Danny’s papers from the pouch in preparation for a fast turnover. As they strode up the gangway to wait for a relative who’d never come, Danny became more nervous.

When they arrived at the waiting area and there was no one there to pick him up, Danny craned his neck and pretended to search. A wall mural beside him showed red mountains with a blue sky. The arms of a saguaro reached towards a silver slice of moon. The ceilings were very low, nothing like the cavernous terminals in Atlanta. The carpet was a short gray. Blue bench seats made from comfortable looking vinyl were arrayed before each gate, the space in between empty all the way back to the security area. Several people tramped by, none of them intended for Danny.

The flight attendant sighed. “Damn. Always my luck.”

“She works late. She’ll be here.”

“I hope so,” said the flight attendant. All of his desire to help had been left back in the plane it seemed. “This is an airline, not a baby sitting service.”

Suddenly, Danny found himself not liking the man. Initially, when he and Maxom had discussed this aspect of the plan, Danny had felt bad that the person might get fired for losing track of a child. Now, he didn’t care. The man’s attitude had solved the problem for him. Danny’s only concern, now, was to figure out a way to escape.

Five minutes later, right about the point where the flight attendant was ready to detonate, the answer to Danny’s problems strolled into the waiting area in the form of a grandmotherly woman in a flower print dress. In one hand she carried a large, white leather purse and in the other a small dog carrier. No sooner did she sit down, than she opened the carrier and brought out a tiny gray-haired Yorkshire Terrier. Danny searched and spied the bathroom. He began to head that way but was pulled up short by the flight attendant’s hand gripping his backpack.

“And where do you think you’re going?”

To get you fired.

“To the bathroom.”

A look of impatience passed across the man’s face. “I don’t know—”

“You can come if you want. I promise nothing will happen to me.” When it seemed as if the flight attendant just might follow, Danny hastily added, his voice an embarrassed whisper. “I think it’s the stew from last night. Daddy said the meat was a funny color. I hope they have enough toilet paper.”

The flight attendant made a face and flicked his hand at Danny to go on. “I’ll be watching you from here, so don’t try anything funny, young man.”