The Siege (30 page)

“It’s too soon,” Mia cried.  “Did I do this?  I used my telekinesis.”

“No, child, the Other did.  The boy is young, but he will survive.  I’m worried about you.  You have to let go of that anger so I can work my magic.  I can’t find my way in.  You’re filled with this negativity.”

“It’s his.  He transferred it to me,” Mia said.  “In my rage, I didn’t keep my guard up, and he filled me with his most hateful memories.”

“A lesson for us all, dear,” Judy said.  “Ted, we have to get Mia to a hospital. The Other has damaged her body.  I can’t save both mother and child.  If I could contact my sisters, then it would be a different story.”

“Save my child,” Mia instructed.

Ted grabbed Judy’s hand.  “Tell me, how do we contact your sisters?”

“If you had a way to call Angelo…”

“There may be a way. I started to implement a satellite hookup.  I believe Lorna is working on it now.”

“Well, get over there, boy.   As soon as it’s possible, call the aerie,” she instructed.

“I assume the number isn’t listed.”

“Call Angelo’s European number. That will connect you to the aerie,” Judy informed him.

Ted knelt down next to Mia.  “You stay here.  Don’t go canoodling with Murphy yet.  We have so much to do.  I’m going to go and kiss Angelo’s ass if I have to, but we’re going to get you help.”

“I love you, Teddy Bear,” Mia said softly.

“I know,” Ted said.  He kissed her before he got up, left the nursery and headed for the stairs.

“Why did you lie to my husband?” Mia asked Judy.  “The Other is already changing me so he can steal my soul.”

“You have to give them hope, dear.  Also, it couldn’t hurt.  Who knows who or what could make the difference to set you free from this curse?  Your child, I will care for until Ted can.  Did you have a name in mind?”

“Brian Stephen Cid Martin,” Mia said.

“That’s a wonderful name.  Sabine would be so pleased.  I tried to heal Brian, but he was long gone before I arrived,” Judy confessed.  “Your son has three brilliant men to be named after.”

“Stephen will try to follow me into hell.  Don’t let him.”

“Ed will take care of that.  Komal explained all this to us before we left.  Why, Mia, didn’t you tell Ted that there really wasn’t any hope?”

“Couldn’t hurt,” Mia quoted Judy.  “Plus, we’ve all had an adventure in the meantime.” Mia groaned in pain.  Judy encouraged her to breathe and waited for the arrival of Brian Stephen Cid Martin.

Chapter Twenty-three

BAM!  BAM!  BAM!

The knock reverberated throughout the house.  The dishes rattled in the cupboards behind Tonia.

Richard smiled.  His undefeatable associates were back in record time.  He decided that he would let them kill all who had scorned him, basically everyone on this property.  He sensed another presence close, but he hadn’t seen her yet.  This presence carried the DNA of the netherworld.  If this indeed was true, then why would this person side with the humans?  He also didn’t like the look of the superhuman that nearly blocked the light of the world when he stood in front of Richard.  He sensed a bond with Mia, but the man’s intelligence was great which was misleading considering his bulk.  He could be a prize, a bonus sale perhaps?

Sheriff Ryan walked and stood looking out the kitchen door to the front door.  He glanced over at the pinned man and asked, “Why do you do this?”

“Profit,” Richard answered.

“Excuse me, but what could you possibly spend it on? Kibble for the hell hounds?”

“He’s lying to you, Ryan,” Tonia pointed out.  “He does it for the power.  He didn’t have any power when he was a human, so he bargained himself into this position.  He uses the talents of the enslaved to make him look good.  Others have no dignity,” Tonia taunted.

“I have only this one experience with an Other,” Ryan admitted.  “What is your purpose, and who do you work for?”

“That’s confidential,” Richard answered.

“He means, if he told you, you would kill him instantly.”

“I assumed he was already dead,” Ryan admitted.

“Not dead dead, just mostly dead,” Tonia clarified.

“I’ve heard that before,” Ryan said, scratching his head.  “Tell me why we can’t just toss the fucker out?”

“There’s this thing called protocol,” Tonia said and continued, “The Other has to be invited in.  The victim…”

“They are not victims!”

Tonia made a face.  “They have no choice; they are victims.  The victim has the opportunity to negotiate, make changes in a contract that has already been written.”

“How can you change a contract that has already been written,” Ryan asked.

“You can’t.  They can add codicils.  Mia specified that she not be taken until she delivered her child.  The bastard has poisoned her body, and it’s rejecting the child right now.”

“Mother Mary, help us,” Ryan said, crossing himself.  “I’d like to take a potshot at this thing myself, but I fear I would only exacerbate the problem.”

“I’m here, and I have ears and feelings,” Richard protested.

Tonia’s lip curled.  “Back to the procedure.  If the victim agrees to the contract, she or he is allowed to leave peacefully.  If they reject it, all their loved ones and property will be destroyed in the process of the Other claiming the sensitive.  No matter what, once you’ve been targeted by these leeches, you lose,” Tonia spat.

“You’ve lost someone to an Other, I take it,” Ryan assumed.

“Yes, two very powerful medicine men.  Because of him and his kind, the Native populations are without healers and counselors.”

“It was their fault for not choosing a side,” Richard said.

“I beg your pardon?” Tonia motioned for Breeze to step away.

The ghost did so but prepared himself to intervene if necessary.

Tonia reached inside her vest and pulled out two pictures.  She held them closely in front of Richard’s face.

He blinked, trying to focus on the men in the pictures.

“Tell me where each had crossed the line.  They were good men,” she claimed.

Richard cleared his voice before responding, “Flying Feather used his power to heal a criminal.  Sunrise Cloud did not instruct John Basewater’s widow to chop a hole into the wall when he died.  John was trapped inside the home instead of being called to his reward.”

“Is this true?” Ryan asked Tonia.

“Yes, but let me elaborate on the charges.  Let’s start with Flying Feather.  The man he cured had savaged his clan with his brutality.  He was carrying a devil inside. Flying Feather removed the devil, and then the man was taken into tribal custody.  He was charged with the crimes and sent to prison.  There he worked, and still works, on counseling the younger inmates to mend their ways and to take care of their families.  You call this crossing the line?”

“Karmically yes,” Richard answered.

“As a Christian, I think what Flying Feather did was right,” Ryan judged.

“But he broke the law, lawman,” Richard sneered.

“No, the man did go to prison.  Flying Feather offered him compassionate medical help,” Ryan argued.

“See,” Tonia said.  “You Other’s don’t pay attention.  I think if there was an appeals court, your case would have been thrown out!”

“There is none,” Richard said smartly.  “As long as everything on the contract is correct, I have not done anything wrong.”

“What about this Sunshine Cloud person?” Ryan asked, interested.

“Sunshine Cloud was the last to be taken.  When a person dies inside of a Navaho home, the family is counseled to chop a hole in the wall or roof to let the spirit of the dead out.  In many cases, Navahos put their dying outside so they will not lose their home.  It was a cold February, and the soon-to-be widow would not consent to her husband being treated this way.  He died, and Sunshine looked around him and saw all the young children.  He knew that this family didn’t have a place to go.  So he discouraged the releasing of the spirit until spring.  No harm, no foul.”

“He could have taken the man to the hospital or hospice,” Richard said.

“You seem to have this strange way of ignoring people’s poverty, traditions and sense of family.  Is this how you sleep, if you do sleep, at night?” Tonia asked.

“He seems to have a lot in common with a psychopath,” Ryan observed.

“Nonsense, I, merely, am a businessman.”

“Same thing,” Tonia dismissed.

BAM!  BAM!  BAM!

This time, the vibrations moved the appliances on the counters to the point of toppling off.  Tonia and Ryan managed to right everything before there was further damage.

“How long does that go on?” Ryan asked Tonia.

“Ask him,” she directed.

“How long do your goons intend on knocking on the door.”

“Until I tell them to stop or the house falls down around you.”

“Murphy built this house; it ain’t coming down,” Ryan professed proudly.

BAM!  BAM!

The three waited for the last knock, but when it didn’t happen, Richard’s hands began to shake.

Chapter Twenty-four

Lorna ran beside Murphy. They decided to travel around the back of the house to flank the spirits on the north side.  “Stephen, we can injure the ghosts, but we must let He-who-walks-through-time actually destroy them.”

“Why?”

“He has no concept of the Dickensian ghost.  He lived before Charles made us see the benefit of being guided by the dead to our salvation.  He doesn’t get all weak at the knees hearing an English accent spoken.  He only sees them as Mia’s enemies.  His death-strike will be permanent.”

“How permanent?” Murphy asked.

“As permanent as a deer woman’s strike.”

“Is the deer woman coming?”

“She cannot interfere in the business of the Other.  I can, however, fight for my friends.  If the beasts are too strong for the superhuman, we must prepare to disband quickly.  Better to run away and live to fight another day.”

“I am dead. I will stay. Stephen Murphy will
never
run away!”

Lorna touched his arm, encouraging him to look at her.  “If Mia is taken into hell, it is important for you not to follow her.  I have another way in,” she conspired.

“So all is not lost.”

“The teachings of my forefathers and spirit mothers have shown me that there is no such thing as impossible.  Sure, we lose some fights, but we will find a way. There is always a way.”

“I will listen and abide by your counsel,” Murphy said, his heart hurting with every promised word.

“I will not fail you, not as long as I exist in any reality,” Lorna Grainger swore.  “Now, let’s go and kick some ass!”

The large man approaching the Dickensian spirits had stopped the smallest ghost from knocking on the door.  He turned and watched the others take up a battle stance.

“I wish you to leave here,” Ed requested.

“Listen to the hulk.  He wants us to leave,” the middle ghost said.

“Ah, look at him, he’s all so muscly.  He thinks that by giving us a gun show, we’re going to bow in submission, eh what,” the little ghost commented.

The large ghost pulled up his sleeves and, in doing so, manifested Popeye-like forearms.  “Now this is what we call a gun show,” he bragged.

“This is your last chance.  Leave or cease to exist,” Ed offered.

“I pick none of the above,” the middle ghost said and charged the human.

Ed met his attack by flipping him aside with the iron spear.  The ghost got to his feet and looked at his brothers.  “Come on, there are three of us and…”

An iron dart flew into his mouth and through the back of the ghost’s head, taking the rest of his words with it.  Lorna quickly fired again, pinning the creature to the porch railing.  Before the ghost’s comrades could intervene, Ed took his cast-iron-headed spear and quartered the spirit.  It screamed as it tried to rejoin its parts.

Irritated by the noise, Ed bent forward and punched his fist into the ghost’s mouth, silencing him forever.

“That’s one down,” Lorna crowed.  “Come on, Big Boy, take a chance on a lady,” she encouraged the largest of the remaining ghosts.

The overconfident ghost attacked her, only to find that behind Lorna stood the farmer.  Murphy had shadowed her, and instead of one lone woman, he was fighting two warriors.  The axe hurt each time Murphy landed a blow.

Ed turned and glared at the remaining ghost and crooked his finger.  “Come here, little one.”

The ghost shook his head and vaulted over the remains of his fallen comrade.  He took off running, but in his haste, he forgot to avoid the heavily salted sidewalk.  He bounced off the invisible wall and into the arms of a surprised but pleased Ed.

The ghost started singing a sleighing song, hoping to remind Ed how utterly charming English ghosts could be.

Ed twisted the ghost into a large circle.  He then picked up an iron spike and drove it into a porch post.  There he hung the ghost like a Christmas wreath, commenting, “This ought to jingle your bells.”

~

Ted finished his plea to the abbess of the Gray Ladies, who assured him that Angelo and two of the sisters were already en route.  They left when Angelo could not return Mia’s call because of the severed phone line.  She also took the time to break the bad news to Ted, “What little we know of the methods of Others, I doubt that anyone can cure your wife.  We can save the child, but Mia was under the mercy of the Other and his contract.”

Cid watched his friend’s face fall.

Ted got up.  He flexed his fists and then sent one into the wall in frustration.  The cracking and snapping of bones followed by a string of curses would have set Mia back on her heels.  Ted hopped around in pain.

“Why the wall, genius?” Cid said, rushing to his aid.  He pulled a plastic bag out of the drawer and filled it with ice.  He wrapped a tea towel around it and then applied it to Ted’s hand.

“I think I wanted to hurt myself.  I’m just so frustrated.”

“I think you better get back to Mia.  She needs you, now more than ever,” Cid counseled.  “I’ll keep trying to get through to the others and see if anyone has solution to our problem.”