The Star-Fire Prophecy (12 page)

Chapter Sixteen

Lydia was in the kitchen when Danica entered the house.

“Hi,” Lydia called to her. “I must have missed you down at the corral. Would you do me a favor? Dave’s asked me over for supper tonight. There’s that frozen casserole you could put in the oven for the kids. Would you mind feeding them and putting them to bed tonight?”

Danica focused her attention on Lydia with difficulty. The children? But she wouldn’t be here, she was leaving…

“This is the first chance I’ve had to spend the evening with Dave in I don’t know how long,” Lydia said.

I’ll have to stay here until Lydia comes back from Dave’s
, Danica told herself.

“And I heard about Amy, that she can talk. I’ll bet you’re happy about it.”

“Yes.”
Should I tell Lydia about Melantha controlling Amy’s mind? Would she believe me, stand by me
?

“There’s carrot and celery sticks in the refrigerator,” Lydia said. “And you can make some chocolate pudding for dessert.” She hesitated in the kitchen doorway. “Is everything okay?”

There’s no use in telling her
, Danica thought.
She’ll think I’m crazy like Evan does
. “Go ahead,” Danica said. “I’ll stay.”

She served the casserole mechanically, smiling a fixed smile at the children while eating nothing herself. She felt like she’d never be hungry again.

Maxwell watched her throughout the meal. What had Amy said? Maxwell was different? He had intelligence he couldn’t use? An odd way to put it. What had Amy meant?
No, don’t think about Amy, you’re leaving Star-Fire
…

“Amy?” Maxwell asked, his brown eyes clouded.

“She doesn’t stay with us anymore, Maxwell. Amy’s back at Melantha’s.”

“Gone,” Maxwell said. He frowned. “All gone.”

Yes
, Danica thought with a pang.
I’m going, too
. Amy had said Maxwell didn’t like very many people. Now two of them would disappear. Oh, Amy would still be at Star-Fire, but she was Melantha’s now…

I can’t just let this happen
, Danica told herself.
I must at least try to talk to Galt
.

She let the children help her clean the kitchen, then got them ready for bed and read them a story.

“‘…I will then,’ said the little red hen, and she ate the bread all up.”

“No,” Maxwell said. “No, no, no,”

Danica didn’t know if he was protesting the end of the story or Amy’s not being here. She waited for Lydia’s return with some impatience.

I’ll have time to talk to Galt before I leave tonight
, Danica thought.
If Lydia ever gets back
.

But after the suitcases were all packed, Lydia still wasn’t home. It grew later, midnight came, and Danica realized she’d have to wait until morning to get away from Star-Fire. She sat on the couch, reluctant to go to bed with the door unlocked, not wanting to lock it because Lydia wouldn’t have taken a key, not expecting a locked door, and would have to knock.

She dozed off and on, jerking awake to confront the confusion of her own thoughts. It was two a.m. before Lydia came in.

I won’t talk about leaving now
, Danica decided.
I’ll tell her later in the morning. No point in upsetting Lydia’s sleep
.

I won’t sleep
, Danica thought, as she got into bed after locking the outside door. But she did, waking to bright November sunshine. She dressed and made breakfast for the children.

Lydia, yawning, came out of her bedroom in her robe as Danica finished the dishes. “What time is it?” she asked.

“Lydia…” Danica began, but the other girl broke in.

“Oh, I know—I’m sorry I was so late. Dave’s taking a pack trip with the horses and he’ll be gone most of this week. I guess we got carried away and forgot the time.”

“Oh, that’s all right. But…”

Lydia wasn’t through talking. “Galt lets Dave rent out the horses now and then to outsiders, and Dave gets rented right along with them.”

“Lydia,” Danica began again, “I’m leaving. Leaving Star-Fire, I mean. This morning, right after I talk to Galt.”

“But why?”

“It concerns Amy. Melantha is mistreating her and…”

“How?”

Suddenly it seemed impossible to explain. Stated as fact, the whole series of events was unbelievable, just as Evan had told her. “I’ll write you,” Danica said. “I’ll tell you what happened in a letter. I’ve got to see Galt now.”

Galt won’t understand either
, Danica thought, as she lugged her suitcases down the steps to the parking lot.
But I have to try
. She locked her belongings in her VW and climbed the stairs to Galt’s house.

“I must talk to you,” she said as he opened the door.

“Come in and join us,” he said. “Melantha and Amy are having breakfast with me this morning.”

Danica took a step backward. “Oh, no thanks.”

There was a silence.

“I—I’m leaving Star-Fire,” she said.

His face was guarded, she couldn’t read the expression. “I’m sorry to hear that. Are you sure you can’t wait and discuss it with me?”

His words seemed chill to her, formal. Employer to employee. “You aren’t surprised,” she said.

“Melantha told me already.”

“Yes, of course she would.” Danica’s bitterness broke through the words.

Galt made an abortive movement toward her. “Danica,” he said. “Wait.”

“I—I can’t.” To her distress, tears came to her eyes. “But Amy, you have to know about Amy…”

She stopped talking as Melantha’s husky voice spoke from behind Galt.

“Who are you talking to? Ask them in, it’s cold with the door open.”

“I—I’ll write you,” Danica said, the tears blurring her last sight of Galt. “Goodbye.”

She had stopped crying by the time she got to her car.
There’s no place here for me
, she told herself.
I have to leave before Galt hears the whole story as Melantha will tell it. He’d ask me to go if I didn’t leave. When he has to choose between my story and Melantha’s, what choice would he have
? She thought of the three of them having breakfast together, a cozy domestic scene…

I can’t do anything for Amy. Amy really wants to learn from Melantha. She told me so. Now she’s accepted her and rejected me
. Danica pushed down the formless terror that lurked under the surface of her mind. Insignificant thoughts, like minnows darting in the shallows, were all she allowed.

I’ll go back to Guiding Hands Manor. Miss Defoe wants me back, the children will be glad to see me. I’ll be happy to see Angie again—poor Angie, I never did write her—and live in our apartment with no children underfoot. Best to keep away from close attachments with the children I work with, everyone says so. I won’t have to watch Galt with Melantha—careful, don’t think about Galt. Evan? I really don’t care. He said he’d help me and he didn’t. Face it, he couldn’t. Who’d believe your story? You won’t believe it yourself, once Star-Fire is behind you. Don’t think of Star-Fire either. Use the energy, calm yourself
.

Danica pulled off the road and tried to gather awareness, but too much of her mind was shut off, hiding what was lurking in the depths. After a bit she started the car again and drove toward Bakersfield, hands gripping the wheel, muscles so tense that her shoulders began to ache.

Time to eat lunch
, she told herself as she passed the Bakersfield city-limits sign. She’d only had coffee for breakfast and now felt nauseated and shaky from lack of food. Pulling off the freeway, she found a drive-in and ordered a malt. The thick mixture stuck in her throat, but she forced herself to finish it.
The car needs gas, too
, she thought.

She threw the empty container in a trash can and as she turned to go back to the car, she bumped into a young girl carrying a Coke. The child stumbled and dropped the drink.

“Oh!” the girl said. Narrowing her eyes to blue slits she stared crossly at Danica. “You made me drop my Coke,” she said.

“I’m sorry, it was my fault, I wasn’t looking. I’ll buy you another.”

The child’s face brightened. “Okay,” she said.

The girl chattered to her while they waited at the window for the Coke to arrive. “My name’s Cindy. It’s really Cindy Lou but that’s stupid, so I just say Cindy. You’re nice, you’ve got pretty hair. What’s your name?”

“Danica.”

“I never heard that name before. Do they call you Danny? That’s sort of a boy’s name but not really, I guess.”

Danica paid for the Coke and handed the container to Cindy. “Sometimes I’m called Danny,” she said.

Cindy stared up at her, blue eyes wide. “I wish we could be friends,” she said. “I like you.”

“I like you, too,” Danica said and the words stuck in her throat like the malt. She got back in the car and sat a moment, eyes closed.

I’m abandoning Amy
, she thought.
I can’t do that, I’m her only friend. Amy has no one but me
. She started the VW and headed for the northbound freeway ramp.
I’m going back and get Amy, take her with me. I’ll manage it somehow. If they send the police after me and we get caught, I’ll tell the whole story. Maybe no one will believe me, but it’ll blow Star-Fire sky high. And the authorities will protect Amy. Maybe we won’t get caught. I’ve got a little money. We can leave California
.

When she started up the last stretch of winding road toward Star-Fire, the shadows were lengthening.
Good
, she thought.
I’ll park off the road, not go into the parking lot. No one will know I’m there and the dusk will cover my movements. Amy and I can slip away and no one will know we’re gone, at least for a while. Even when Amy’s missed, they won’t know she’s with me. She does hide, maybe they’ll think she’s hiding
…

When it was dark enough, Danica moved stealthily toward the corral. She had decided not to risk climbing the central steps, and, since Dave and the horses were gone, there was little chance of anyone’s being nearby.

She approached the houses from the other side of the hill, hidden by the rise. She stumbled on unseen rocks, and thought of the snake. Had there been one? Would there be one tonight? But snakes didn’t like the cold, and this was a chilly evening.

She took up a position even with Melantha’s house, peering through the bushes at the top of the hill. After some time had passed, she saw Melantha come out in her dark cloak, a child with her. Amy? She watched them go into Evan’s house. What should she do? She was afraid to go into Melantha’s house and hide, afraid the cat would follow her. And afraid, too, that Melantha would somehow sense her presence. She shifted to a more comfortable position and waited.

There was a stirring in the bushes and she started as fur brushed her hand. Dido. “Scat!” she hissed, and heard the cat scramble away.
Now the cat knows I’m here
, she thought. Was it so ridiculous to think the cat could communicate with Melantha?

A shaft of light cut into the darkness and disappeared. Evan’s door, opening and closing. Was that someone coming along the path? Yes, a small figure…

Danica stifled her impulse to call Amy’s name. It could be another child. But the figure began climbing the hill, heading for her, and finally burst through the bushes and clasped her around the neck.

“I knew you’d come back for me,” Amy said. “She told me you went away, but I knew you’d come back.”

Danica hugged the thin body. “We have to leave Star-Fire,” she said.

Amy pulled away. “She won’t let me.”

“We’re not going to tell anyone. Come on.” Danica took Amy’s hand and led her toward the corral. “I’ve got my car parked on the road.”

Amy hesitated. “The arrow,” she said. “I haven’t got the arrow with me. We won’t have our lucky charm.”

“It doesn’t matter. Hurry.”

“Yes, it does too,” Amy said, but followed her.

“How did you know I was in the bushes?” Danica said.

“I could feel you there.”

“You mean you were in my—in my mind?”

“Oh, no!” Amy sounded shocked. “I wouldn’t do that unless you knew ahead of time and said it was okay. I’m not going to be like her. And anyway, I don’t know if I could, yet, with you.”

“But you could tell I was in the bushes?”

“Yes. I can feel where you are if it’s not too far away.”

“Does Melantha—can she do that, too?”

“I don’t think so. Not with you, anyway.” The concept seemed unreal to Danica even as she accepted it. But no more unreal than creeping through the night, kidnapping a child. No, not kidnapping—she was rescuing Amy.

All went well. They reached the car undiscovered and started down the road toward the highway. They’d gone about a mile when the VW began to jerk and cough, and then stopped. A terrible realization flooded Danica’s mind: she’d forgotten to get gas in Bakersfield; the car was out of gas and could go no farther.

She slumped against the seat. They were trapped. Unless they went on foot, of course.

I won’t give up
, Danica thought fiercely. But she remembered the long stretch of road with no houses. Four miles away, maybe more. Amy might be missed before they reached a phone, and any car coming would be from Star-Fire.

Wait—hadn’t she seen a ranch across the fields that day she and Galt went horseback riding? Yes, south of Star-Fire. Surely the ranch house had not been more than a mile from the corral. They could find a phone there and call the police. If she couldn’t get Amy away, at least she could have Star-Fire investigated. Probably the local authorities were already suspicious of Star-Fire. Whatever happened, Amy would be taken away from Melantha, would be safe.

“We’re going to walk,” she told Amy. “We could take the horses, but Dave has them on a pack trip. We’ll have to cross the fields to the nearest house. I’m going to call the police.”

Amy pulled her hand from Danica’s. “I don’t like policemen. Can’t we just go away?”

“I’m afraid not. Sooner or later we’d be caught. We couldn’t keep on running forever. It’s better to go to the police than have them chasing us.”