The Shade Riders and the Dreadful Ghosts (20 page)

When they arrived, Nova and Takeesha took
Shade down the trail to make her bigger. When they got back, Max
Kim and Benny sat under a maple tree eating out of the basket.

“We were gone for two minutes and already
you’re feeding your faces.” Nova tied Shade to the U-shaped tree
branch.

“Yeah,” Takeesha said.

“We were bored,” Benny said. “What do you
want from us?”

“Want a snickerdoodle?” Max Kim said holding
out a bread loaf bag.

“Not right now. But maybe for lunch.” Nova
smiled and began to put the harness on Shade.

Max Kim got off the ground and pulled the
cart into position. He was up against her tail as he maneuvered the
cart into the harness.

“Max Kim,” Nova said quietly but urgently,
“get out of there. She might kick.”

Shade kept looking back at the cart, her eyes
rolled back, and her ears down. Max Kim crawled out from under the
left arm of the cart just in time-- Shade threw her legs back in a
jarring and ear-splitting kick to the cart.

She continued to dance around. She turned the
opposite direction then kicked again.

“We have to let her get used to it,” Nova
said. “We might as well have some lunch.”

She tried one last time to soothe her horse
by patting her neck and talking to her, but it didn’t help. They
sat down under a tree and wiped their hands, then ate lunch.

Afterward, Nova had a couple snickerdoodles,
which made Max Kim happy. It began to drizzle, and that seemed to
calm Shade down. She plucked at some nearby grass and only glanced
at the cart from time to time. The kids stayed dry underneath the
tree as it wasn’t very windy. Benny brought out a deck of Zenner
cards. This time the cards had cardboard stuck to their backs so
there was no way the designs could show through. He tested Nova and
Takeesha again. Nova’s score was basically identical to the last
time. Takeesha’s score was worse.

“I give up,” Benny said. “I don’t know how
you are doing it, Nova.”

“Neither do I.” Nova sauntered over to feed
her horse some carrots.

“How come mine was worse?” Takeesha said. “I
tried harder this time, You know?”

Benny wheeled over, and Max Kim and Takeesha
strode over to examine the horse and cart for any damage. There
wasn’t any.

“Takeesha, maybe you need to practice, or you
might just not have the ability. Not everyone does,” Benny said.
“Nova, you must be cheating somehow.”

“How can you accuse me of that? I don’t
cheat.”

Confusion stood out on Benny’s face. “Fine.
I’ll have to come up with another test, damn it. Anyway, the next
thing for Shade is to see if she can pull the wheelchair off.”

Nova tied a rope to the wheelchair’s vinyl
back, then to the U-shaped tree branch and led Shade away from the
tree. Shade pulled a little but refused to pull any further.

“I think you need to slap her rump, you
know?”

Nova slapped it, and Shade pulled harder. A
crow flew out of the tree right over her head. She spooked and the
cart fish-tailed around. The old wheelchair stayed on the cart.

Nova breathed a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, the vinyl back of the wheelchair
gave way. Shade was loose with the cart galloping down the
driveway. All four kids chased after her. Nova and Max Kim ran
along the side of the cart then jumped into it. They grabbed the
flapping reins and pulled on them to get Shade to stop. The horse
was upset and wasn’t going to stop easily.

“We’re going into the field,” Nova yelled to
Benny and Takeesha who had slowed down now that two kids had
control. Nova and Max Kim rode through the trees and into a newly
plowed field. The dirt was in wet ruts and bumpy mounds. Riding on
it was not a nice experience but it was a good test for the
cart.

Max Kim was riding on the broken wheelchair
and fell off a couple times into the dirt. Muddy, he ran to get
back aboard. They ran Shade about two miles, and Nova felt that it
was a successful test and that they should go back. That’s when it
really started raining. Max Kim fell off again on the turn going
back.

“Go ahead.” He waved to Nova. “I’d rather
walk.” Nova wanted to stop, so she pulled on the reins, but Shade
had the bit and was running full steam ahead. That was weird. Maybe
she was barn sour though Nova had been careful to avoid that. Nova
looked back, and Max Kim waved to her to keep going as he kept
walking behind. Nova was going to pull on one rein, so Shade was
running in a tight circle but she didn’t know enough about the long
poles on the cart if they would gouge her side. She just let her
normally trot back to the house.

When Nova arrived, she found Benny and
Takeesha under the tree again keeping dry. Max Kim finally
appeared, muddy, drenched, and to her relief, laughing. The rain
let up. They decided to ride back to Nova’s farm. Shade pulled the
cart with no problems on the road. Once there, they let Shade out
of the gear and brushed her down, gave her grain, and led her to
the catch pen, where she trotted out to the back pasture.

The next day at dusk, The
Shade Riders meandered toward Leandra’s house once again. Nova and
Takeesha were jogging with Shade, whose wings had not sprouted
yet.

“Leandra,” Nova talked into the watch. “We’re
coming over right now.”

“Ace, all ready for you.”

Max Kim was standing in the cart, holding the
cart’s shafts off the ground using a long rope along his arms and
behind his back. Benny’s wheelchair was clamped on and pushed them
along. The cart kept pulling to the left, and Benny had to steer
constantly to the right. It was awkward, but it got them there.

The kids stroll and wheel down Leandra’s
driveway. They approached the house where Leandra was drinking
something from a coffee mug. Nova got closer and could smell the
mint tea.

Takeesha tied up Shade to the U-shaped tree
branch.

“Leandra, have you found out how to keep the
ghosts away?”

“I’m not sure. But, I bet Ralf would know. If
we could get

him from Ahlon’s grip before the war starts
in Ordin, we would get our answer. Once you get Shade grown up and
hitched to the cart, I’ll create a rainbow portal to get us into
Ordin.”

Nova and Max Kim took Shade down the trail,
transforming her into a full grown mare. They hitched her up,
running the shafts under her golden and black trimmed wings. They
had to fold one of the wings to get the harness on.

Soon they were ready to go. Nova sat in front
of Max Kim on Shade. Leandra sat on the left side of the cart with
Takeesha next to her, and Benny was clamped on and ready for his
first exhilarating flight in a long time.

Behind Leandra’s house were two trees that
were about four yards apart. Their branches met in the middle
forming a square that was wide enough to take the horse and cart.
Leandra did some sign language, and Nova could hear misting water
coming from a sprinkler. Suddenly it became very bright. A rainbow
portal appeared in the framed tree area. The green wavy middle
color was right in the center of the double doors -- yellow on the
left and blue on the right.

“Go right into the green area to get to
Ordin.”

They went into a green box of light with
banging, scratching and growling on the walls. Nova had shivers and
sweat pouring down her back Nova looked back at her friends. Max
Kim gulped. Benny reared back clenching his teeth, Takeesha’s eyes
moved back and forth in their sockets. Leandra threw her arm
forward. “Proceed!”

Nova trotted Shade through the misty rainbow
into a strange new world.

They entered on a mountain top, with trees to
their right

and left. Nova shook with excitement. Shade
pranced. Nova

pulled on the reins. They had never attempted
to fly with the cart before but she remembered Max Kim in Shade’s
slipstream. The mist that they had gone through dried on Nova’s
skin in the warm daytime breeze. The sun was out, and Nova could
see most everything except in the fog that was close-by to her
right. Then she realized those were clouds, not fog. She gazed
around waiting for an attack. The Neanderthals in the archeology
books were considered a savage and formidable people. They could
take a huge blow from a wild animal and recover quickly. Nova
scanned around but so far it was quiet up in the mountains where
they were. Shade stamped her foot at some biting flies or maybe
impatience.

Leandra waved Nova forward, but there was a
huge cliff in front of them. Nova thought it was strange that Shade
still had her wings in daylight. What if Shade put the wings back
inside herself or wherever they disappeared?

She breathed deeply in and out urging Shade
closer to the cliff. This was it. This was where Shade took them to
their deaths or took them all on a ride to remember. They were at
the edge. Shade kicked stones over the side. Rocks bounced down the
cliff, but Nova didn’t know how far because she couldn’t see
through the clouds.

Shade was getting antsier by the minute. Nova
gave her one quick kick, secretly hoping she would ignore it.

Shade plunged over the edge.

Shade fell down half the length of the huge
mountain before

spreading her wings. Then her gold and black
trimmed wings

flapped, lifting the whole lot of them
smoothly into the sky.

Nova felt relieved and looked behind her.

”My elastic cord in perception is positive?”
Takeesha said. “Atlantis is my level of being?”

What?

“Prophesy is intuitive and on the other side
of existence?” Benny said.

Max Kim grabbed Nova around her waist as
Shade jostled. He eventually took the ride in stride and didn’t say
anything except for laughing and whooping. Leandra smiled
satisfied. She leaned back in the seat. Takeesha’s face became
ashen. She kept reaching over to the metal bars that surrounded the
cart opposite her.

Nova noticed movement on the mountain behind
her. Then she realized there were caves of every size in the cliff
face. They had ladders going up to each one. She saw Neanderthals
going in and out and cooking over fires outside the caves. She
didn’t know what else they were doing because she was the one
steering Shade, so she had to pay attention to what was ahead.

They broke through the clouds, and Nova could
see farther now. Beautiful large lakes appeared as Shade flapped
over the trees tops. Nova could hear many of the same animal sounds
she heard when she first went through the rainbow and ended up in a
tent with Leandra- monkeys, birds, frogs, and bats.

Max Kim grabbed Nova’s arm, then let go and
used that same hand to point to some loud waterfalls splashing into
a large lake. There were trees on top of trees in the emergent
layer. Beautiful green parrots fluttered from branch to branch.
Monkeys ran above and dove under the canopy only to reemerge
screaming.

Benny and Leandra gabbed excitedly and
pointed at things below as Takeesha grabbed her stomach. Nova could
see kettles and valleys full of trees and a long river. She
wondered how many people actually lived here. Nova saw movement
below. A few men and women Neanderthals all -- running among the
trees, carrying weapons. She caught a glimpse of them as they came
out into an opening of grassland.

Suddenly Nova heard a low thud and Shade
screamed and faltered while in flight. She strained to stay above
the trees.

“What happen?” Nova patted her horse’s neck,
and her horse mumbled. “Girl are you okay?”

“Nova, Shade’s been hit,” Leandra said. “Find
a place to land, so we can have a look at her.”

Nova picked a clearing well away from people
she’d seen and managed to guide Shade into it.

Shade landed with a huge thump and exhaled.
Nova pushed Max Kim as she struggled to get off. “I got to get
down. Get out of my way.”

Max Kim finally jumped down. Nova hit the
ground, already feeling Shade’s wings for a wound.

Leandra, Nova and Max Kim checked both wings
and found nothing wrong. But Nova could smell fresh blood. She
recognized the smell from when she’d helped her mother with
surgery.

“Holy chaos!” Nova said. “I smell it, but
don’t see where she got hit.”

“Hurry, we have to find it.” They searched
for what must have been two minutes but felt like fifteen. The
injury was under one of the wings in the horse’s ribcage-- a
bloody, dripping hole with an arrow sticking out.

“Hang in there girl, we’ll get--”

Behind her, there was yelling, rustling of
bushes, and four Neanderthal men came right at them. They held up
strung bows in which arrows were ready to fly.

Nova swallowed and looked at Leandra. She
looked back and winked. The Neanderthals had blond and red hair,
and they wore what looked like clothing made from the yellow hairs
corn silk and dried corn husks. Leandra did the sign language of
shivering then throwing it at them. They turned into a block of
ice.

A group of five Neanderthal women came out of
the forest and approached next. Their clothing consisted of large
flower petals and leaves.

“Are my friends going to try to harm us too?”
Leandra had created a fractal fireball and was ready to start
throwing.

“Never wanted your head, Leandra,” one of
them –clearly the leader—said. “Don’t trust the men though. There
is a bounty.” They grinned, approached Leandra and fearlessly
hugged her. Leandra quickly extinguished the fireball and hugged
back. The women looked behind their friend and noticed Nova and her
friends.

“Squatter children need to watch out too. Is
this the hybrid vigor?” The leader pointed at Nova.

“Squatter? What’s that?” Benny said.

The women smiled and blushed.

“Slip of the tongue, Benny. I don’t think
they meant anything by that. It’s just slang for the Lower Echelon
people. And as far as the hybrid vigor is concerned, Nova, here, is
the one and only.” Leandra put her hand on Nova’s shoulder as she
peeked under Shade, who was breathing hard and sweating. “Do you
women have a healing worm?”