Read From a Distant Star Online
Authors: Karen McQuestion
From a Distant Star
ALSO BY KAREN MCQUESTION
F
OR
A
DULTS
A Scattered Life
Easily Amused
The Long Way Home
Hello Love
F
OR
Y
OUNG
A
DULTS
Favorite
Life on Hold
Edgewood
(Book One of the Edgewood Series)
Wanderlust
(Book Two of the Edgewood Series)
Absolution
(Book Three of the Edgewood Series)
F
OR
C
HILDREN
Celia and the Fairies
Secrets of the Magic Ring
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Text copyright © 2015 Karen McQuestion
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
Published by Skyscape, New York
www.apub.com
Amazon, the Amazon logo, and Skyscape are trademarks of
Amazon.com
, Inc., or its affiliates.
ISBN-13: 9781477830178
ISBN-10: 1477830170
ISBN-13: 9781477830161
ISBN-10: 1477830162
eISBN: 9781477880166
Book design by Cyanotype Book Architects
For Terry Goodman
This one’s for you
CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
“Nowhere to go but out,
Nowhere to come but back.”
—“The Pessimist,” Benjamin Franklin King
A piercing light flashed across the sky and plunged to the earth, landing in a farmer’s field. The old dog, Mack, who had been peeing against the side of the barn, saw the disc-shaped object crash and bounce, skidding thirty feet and throwing dirt as it went. A high-pitched humming and faint glow came off the object, arousing his curiosity, and he trotted out to take a look. Getting closer, he approached cautiously, nose to the ground. The object was the size and shape of his water bowl, iridescent in color, and topped with a shiny dome.
Mack circled around, sniffing while he inched forward, his eyes glowing from the reflection of the object’s light. As he watched, the top popped open with a gentle hiss, leaving a snout-sized gap. At the same time, the lights on the object dimmed, then went off entirely. Utterly fascinating.
The old dog was sure his boy, Lucas, would want to know about this. It had been a longstanding tradition that Mack brought back anything of interest from his explorations, something that never
failed to delight the boy. He always got an enthusiastic rub behind the ears for his trouble, and sometimes a treat, but as curious as Mack was, he was also wary of this thing. It didn’t smell like anything he’d ever encountered before. Under different circumstances, he’d have marked the spot and brought Lucas back later during a walk, but the boy hadn’t gotten out of bed in a long time and the dog knew the other people in the house wouldn’t help. All of them, except the girl, acted as if Mack were a nuisance. Sometimes he even had to remind them to fill his food bowl.
The night sky was bright with stars and a nearly full moon, and as his eyes adjusted, he brought his nose closer for a good whiff. Metallic, almost like blood but not quite. And there was something else too, something that he couldn’t quite place. So very odd. Of all the millions of smells he knew, this wasn’t one of them. He knew the scent of humans, Lucas being his favorite. The boy’s sweat after working in the fields or coming home from ball practice signaled his arrival before he even came into view. Later, when things changed and Lucas had less energy for their walks, the boy’s smell became tinged with a medicinal odor that seeped out of his pores and clung to his clothing and hair. The relationship between the dog and his boy changed too, with Lucas having barely enough energy to pet him, and the others shooing Mack out of the room at every turn. And now Lucas slept around the clock. It just wasn’t right.
Mack heard the creak of the screen door opening right before the woman’s voice rang out. “Mack? Where are you? Get back here now!” Her tone was impatient and he knew if he didn’t return to the house soon, she’d lock the door and he’d be stuck outside until morning. He yipped a quick response before quickly sticking his nose into the opening at the top of the disc-shaped object in order to commit the smell to his olfactory memory. This time he caught a different odor: something alarming, something
alive.
At the very second his brain grasped this fact, a shapeless something flew out
of the craft, latched onto his nose, and wiggled upward until it covered his eyes. The sensation was stronger than a breeze, almost like a splash of water to the face, but not exactly like that either. He stepped back, blinked, and shook his head trying to get the thing off him, but it was stuck, covering his eyes and making his vision murky. Panic-stricken, he panted and trembled, feeling it seep through the membranes to the back of his eyes. A split second later, he felt nothing. It was gone. He whined to himself, a sound of relief.
“Mack! I mean it!” Her voice pierced the night air. It was the sound of aggravation and bone-weary tiredness, but the dog only heard the finality of it. He barked to let her know he was on his way, then turned and raced back to the house.
CHAPTER TWO
“Emma, it’s getting late.” I looked up to see Mrs. Walker in the doorway with her arms crossed, doing her best impression of a stern parent. “Were you planning on staying all night
again
?”
Really? She had to ask? After all this time, she still didn’t get it. If my own mother didn’t mind me being here night and day, what was Mrs. Walker’s problem? “Yes,” I said, looking down at Lucas, lying still in the bed next to me. I wasn’t going to leave him. Not now. Not ever.
“Okay,” she said, giving in and turning around. I heard her in the kitchen, setting up the coffeemaker for the next day, then emptying the dishwasher. Lucas’s hospital bed had been set up in the dining room, right in the middle of the house. Lucas’s parents had no idea how much I’d heard of their private conversations, their many discussions concerning me and Lucas and his so-called “impending death.” I knew they didn’t want me here in their home. They resented my imposition on their family. But they didn’t have the heart to keep me away.
During the school year, Mrs. Walker had made a good case for me to spend some time away. I had school to attend in the morning, homework to do in the evening. I’d already dropped out of all my extracurriculars, but I didn’t want to miss school. When Lucas got better, he’d be finishing high school. I was a year behind him
originally, but with all the time he’d taken off for the treatment of his cancer, he’d have a lot to make up. If all went well, we’d wind up graduating together. During the year, I had reluctantly left his side to go to classes and tried to concentrate on my subjects, but it was nearly impossible. My grades should have taken a hit, but I think my teachers felt sorry for me, the girlfriend of Lucas, the guy bravely battling cancer, so they gave me grades I didn’t quite deserve. All the teachers loved Lucas. He was the golden boy of Westridge High: blond curly hair, football star, honor student, great personality, always smiling. It was a small country high school and everyone knew him. Everyone liked him too. All the guys were his buddies. All the girls wanted him for their boyfriend. But none of those other girls could have him. He was mine.
And I was his. I was his savior, the one he hung on for. He’d said as much, back when he was still speaking, and even now that he was comatose, I could tell he knew I was there, right by his side. I talked to him and stroked his hair, and when Mr. and Mrs. Walker and Lucas’s brother, Eric, weren’t around, I did more than that, kissing him and caressing his skin, hoping somehow to reach him. Hoping he’d find the emotional thread that linked us so I could pull him away from the next world and back into this one.
When Lucas and I had started dating at the end of my sophomore year, it was pretty clear I wasn’t his parents’ first choice for their son. It didn’t matter that I was an honors student and used my best manners; they were still stuck on the fact that my mother and I lived in a trailer park off the highway. That, and the fact that I am, and always have been, completely fatherless. The first dinner at their house, Mrs. Walker had asked, “What does your dad do, Emma?”
Lucas shot his mother a disapproving look, but I was ready with my standard response. I shrugged and said, “I don’t know. I’ve never met him.”